With the temperatures not expected to be above 10 degrees this week in Great Falls, Montana, I fondly remember some of my weather experiences.

Several years ago I received orders to Malmstrom Air Force Base (AFB), Montana. My report no later than date was mid-February. At that time I was stationed at Andersen AFB, Guam, where the daily high temperature was about 87 degrees.

When my wife and I arrived in San Francisco from Guam, we picked up our car that had been shipped a few weeks earlier from Guam. The temperature in San Francisco was 45 degrees. I was already freezing.

The trip was eventful. Due to a massive blizzard, we were trapped in Dillon, Montana, for a few days. I checked the weather channel and the wind chill in Great Falls, Montana, (near Malmstrom AFB) was 85-90 BELOW zero. My wife remembers the trip fondly; she was eight months pregnant with our first child.

As we drove over Gore Hill, which overlooks Great Falls, I promised my wife I would put in for orders and get the heck out of this God-forsaken place as soon as possible. Who could live/survive in this cold weather?

That was about 25 years ago.

When I exited the Air Force, they would have moved me about anywhere in the USA. I picked a place a few miles down the road from Malmstrom.

Did I enjoy the nice weather in Guam? You bet, but it did get a little boring with an average high of about 87 and an average low of about 76 with a chance of rain. Of course, when a typhoon was coming, it was an exciting time for the meteorologists – and for those of us who had never been through a typhoon.

I also enjoyed the beaches and swimming in the Pacific Ocean. I kind of wish I was there this week.

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