As an Okie, I’ll admit that our “cold” isn’t truly cold. Our coldest nights on average are like -3°C. In fact, the coldest it’s ever been in my neck of the woods is -25°C, and that was that freak polar vortex that knocked out power in Texas for several days in Feb '21. The coldest verified recorded temperature in Oklahoma happened in Nowata in Feb 2011, where it dipped to -35°C. And that was also a freak occurrence, and it was 24°C again within a few days. In my part of the state, it gets above freezing point about 355 days of the year. Rarely do we ever spend a full 24 hours below freezing, though it happens once or twice a year. We also get a decent snow or two most years, but it never sticks around for long. New snow is beautiful. But once it’s a day or two old, it’s disgusting. It’s nice that it all melts away within a few days.

And yes, I am a white man, and I wear shorts all year and in any weather.

Don’t ask me about the hot, humid hell we become over summer.