clarinews@clarinet.com (Whitehead/Bird/Standard Broadcast News) (02/01/90)
(GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta) Grande Prairie, Alberta is in the midst of frigid air. Yesterday, the mercury dropped to minus-47 degrees Celcius... the coldest it's been in 16 years. Today is relatively mild... with temperatures hovering around the minus-36 mark. Six people have been treated in hospital for frostbite. One was serious enough to be admitted. This kind of weather is a nightmare for workers such as letter carriers. Merlye (MUR-lee) Carson says the cold isn't so bad if she keeps moving and dresses warmly. She wears thick socks, a heavy sweater, a hat, a scarf and most important... long underwear. Asked how it feels to wake up on a day like today, Merlye says she wanted to crawl back under the covers. She says the worst part is having to go back outside after getting warmed up at lunch time. Asked if any dogs bother her in the cold snap, Carson says... NO, it's too cold for the dogs... you don't go outside on a day like today unless you have to.'' The Grande Prairie postie says many people ask her inside for coffee but she tells them she'd rather keep moving.