Cold weather, as defined by the Boy Scouts of America, is when the outside temperature is 50° or below.

The biggest problem that people are faced with in cold weather is HYPOTHERMIA. Hypothermia is when your body’s core temperature is lowered below 95° . The early warning signs of someone who is experiencing hypothermia are shivering and a gradual loss of physical and mental abilities. An easy way to remember this is to watch out for the "UMBLES" – Stumbles, Fumbles, Mumbles, and Grumbles. Loss of physical abilities (Stumbles and Fumbles) are easy to spot- you see the person stumbling or losing their balance, or not able to hold or use something like a mug, or not able to walk in a straight line. Loss of mental abilities (Mumbles and Grumbles) are a little harder to spot- the person cannot remember where they are, they appear disoriented, they may repeat themselves, they may just be staring off into space, or they might be slurring their words.

If you notice any of these symptoms of hypothermia, GET HELP FOR THAT PERSON IMMEDIATELY! DON’T WAIT! Find the nearest adult and ask for help. DON’T TRY TO TREAT THEM YOURSELF!

Frostbite is another concern when you are outdoors in cold weather. Frostbite is when your skin freezes (ice crystals form in your skin tissue, which destroys the cells). Keeping your hat, mittens and scarf on at all times will help protect you from this VERY painful condition.

Hats ON! You lose the majority of your body heat from your HEAD, so keep your hat on! Your head is like a big radiator, and if too much heat escapes from your head, your blood and body temperature will drop. If your body core (chest and stomach) get cold, your body will shut off the blood supply to your fingers, toes, hands and feet to conserve heat. Stopping your head from being a heat radiator will help keep your fingers and toes warm. Remember- if your feet are cold, put a hat on.

Stay Dry. Nothing makes you cold faster than wet skin. Change your socks and gloves if they become wet. Wearing snow or ski pants will help keep your pants dry. If you run around too much, you will get sweaty, your clothes will get wet (from the inside!), and you will get COLD. If you are camping overnight, make sure you change into DRY clothes before getting into your sleeping bag. Wear a dry hat at night to keep warm.

Wear Proper Clothes. Avoid wearing cotton in cold weather, because cotton stays wet once it gets wet. Wet clothing makes you cold and when your body gets cold, you can easily get hypothermia. There is an easy way to remember this: Cotton Kills. Denim jeans are made from cotton, and that’s why you should never wear jeans outdoors in cold weather. Instead, wear synthetics and wool. Synthetics like fleece, polypropylene, acrylic, etc. are all very good insulators and don’t soak up moisture easily. Wool clothes can keep you warm even if they get wet. For this reason, wool socks are the best kind to wear in cold weather. Your feet sweat more than any other part of your body, and when cotton socks get wet from sweat, your feet will get cold.

Drink Water Often. Every time you breathe out in cold weather, you can see your breath! What you are seeing is water vapor from inside your body. You actually lose more body moisture in the winter than in the summer because of this. If you don’t drink enough water to replace this lost moisture, you can get dehydrated. If you don’t drink enough water, you’ll get headaches, muscle cramps, you’ll lose your appetite, and you can feel sick to your stomach. A good test to see if you are drinking enough water is to look at the color of your urine (your pee). If your urine is dark yellow, you need to drink water NOW. Normal urine is "straw colored", or pale yellow.