These two descriptions are not entirely compatible — if a standard thermometer bottoms out at 88 degrees Fahrenheit and her temperature was 80.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the thermometer should have given a reading of “too cold to measure” rather than the specific value of 80.6.

The inconsistency likely reflects the use of different measurement tools at different points during her treatment, and possibly differences in where the temperature was measured.

A rectal temperature of 80.6 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius) is a temperature that, while extremely low, has been associated with survival in other hypothermia cases.

It represents profound hypothermia — the kind that is life-threatening and that requires immediate treatment — but it is not below the range that has been associated with full recovery.

Some sources describe temperatures as low as 24 degrees Celsius (75.2 degrees Fahrenheit) in Jean Hilliard’s case, which would represent even more extreme hypothermia.