The year I lived in Illinois, one morning I was awoken by the radio, with the disc jockey proclaiming that with wind chill the temperature was like -67. None the less I decided I was not getting out of bed until it was -40, and waited for my school district to have a snow day called.
Sounds like a good reason to go back to California and not go anywhere else right? I think the beach suits me very well.
Might now be the time for you to come back and visit? Instead of suffering in the cold? Do you have any family or friends here?