It’s cold.

Yes, I realize it’s February, and it’s supposed to be cold, but this is a little extreme. Let me explain:

In Los Fresnos, Texas, where the ProRodeo is scheduled to begin Friday, it’s 36 degrees, but it feels more like 26. If you look on your map, you’ll find Los Fresnos just north of Brownville, Texas, which borders Mexico near the Gulf of Mexico.

Folks, that’s as close to the equator as you can get and still be in the continental United States.

Lake Charles, La., home of the SW District Fat Stock Show & Rodeo, is a blustery 32 degrees, yet the wind chill is 25. San Antonio, which begins its long run with Thursday’s Xtreme Bulls Tour event, is 26 degrees, although it feels like 17. There are a bunch of people hunting down parkas as I write this.

In retrospect, I don’t feel so bad about the -8 that registers on the thermometer, because I live in a climate that calls for such. Everybody that entered to compete in Rapid City, S.D., for the Black Hills Stock Show Rodeo knew it might be 3 degrees or even colder.

But the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo is supposed to be a lot warmer conditions than Rapid City. That kind of chill could affect a lot of things, from attendance to performance.

But that’s rodeo, and that’s why it’ll persevere.