This last weekend here in Montana it was a balmy 6 degrees when i fired up my MES 30. It heated up fine,took a little longer but no big deal. I got my baby back ribs in around noon and was planning on using the 2-2-1 method. I was pretty sure that the only effect I would see due to the weather would be the time it took to reheat the smoker after I opened the door. Everything was going good until the 30mph winds kicked up. This is when I found out that 6 degree temps and strong winds will not only effect me but also my smoker.
In the end I had to nail a large thick moving blanket to the side of my house to use as a wind block The smoker would not hold a decent temp while the wind was howling around it. Once I got the wind blocked i had no issues.
What I learned is that cold temps doesn't really effect the MES, but strong winds will have a great impact on holding a temp.