The athletic director in charge of the Nordic skiing for our conference has canceled the meet today because of cold. The chart above shows the Minnesota State High School League guidelines for competing in cold weather. Negative four air temperature is the cut off temp. for all meets. Negative forty is the cut-off for wind chill temp. for all meets.
Safety in the cold is always a concern. Here's a bit of information on frostbite and hypothermia.
The Mayo Cling gives these signs and symptoms of frostbite:
- A slightly painful, prickly or itching sensation
- Red, white, pale or grayish-yellow skin
- Hard or waxy-looking skin
- A cold or burning feeling
- Numbness
- Clumsiness due to joint and muscle stiffness
- Blistering, in severe cases
Frostbite typically affects smaller, more exposed areas of the body, such as your fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin. Because of area numbness, you may not realize you have frostbite until someone else points it out. Let's all keep an eye on each other.
Symptoms of hypothermia:
Shivering is your body's automatic defense against cold temperature — an attempt to warm itself. Constant shivering is a key sign of hypothermia. Signs and symptoms of moderate to severe hypothermia include:
- Shivering
- Clumsiness or lack of coordination
- Slurred speech or mumbling
- Stumbling
- Confusion or difficulty thinking
- Poor decision making, such as trying to remove warm clothes
- Drowsiness or very low energy
- Apathy or lack of concern about one's condition
- Progressive loss of consciousness
- Weak pulse
- Slow, shallow breathing
A person with hypothermia usually isn't aware of his or her condition, because the symptoms often begin gradually and because the confused thinking associated with hypothermia prevents self-awareness.
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