Version 2.1 extends the zero-level CP-RCP framework into the thermal domain through a methodological case study in heat transfer, thermodynamic measurement, and local thermal outcome. Its central claim is interpretive rather than revisionary: ambient air temperature is a standardized atmospheric proxy, but local outcome depends on whether relevant heat-transfer pathways are effectively available and sufficiently coupled under local boundary conditions. In deep cold, many thaw-supporting routes remain physically present yet practically ineffective; near a phase boundary, small differences in geometry, material, exposure, and coupling become decisive; and under bright winter sunlight, selected pathways may reopen locally even while ambient air remains cold. The paper does not revise thermodynamics, meteorology, or standard heat-transfer theory. Instead, it applies the CP-RCP distinction introduced in v1.1 to an ordinary thermal domain in which proxy measurement, local access, and observed outcome visibly diverge. Informal field observations from the late-January 2026 winter storm period and its aftermath in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are used as illustrative cases rather than controlled calorimetric experiments. These include heterogeneous roof clearing, early local melt, patchy snow persistence, icicle formation, residual snow above 0 °C, local warming in sunlit enclosures, and incomplete melt under direct sunlight. The paper argues that these are not random curiosities but readable signatures of pathway suppression, bottleneck dominance, selective restoration, and residual thermal memory. Its contribution is conceptual and methodological: it shows how temperature-regulated systems can be read as pathway regimes while preserving v1.1's distinction between admissibility and access. Version note (v2.1) This paper is the first applied thermal extension of the CP-RCP framework introduced in v1.1. It retains the v1.1 distinction between admissibility and access, but applies that distinction to thermal measurement and winter heat-transfer behavior. It introduces a thermal-regime figure, a qualitative field-observation table, a regime table, and a compact CP-to-RCP-to-observability mapping for the temperature domain. It remains a qualitative, interpretive, equation-free case study. What’s new in v2.1 • First applied thermal grounding of the CP-RCP framework• Demonstrates pathway-dependent outcomes under shared ambient conditions• Introduces key concepts: pathway collapse, bottleneck dominance, and selective restoration• Shows how local thermal behavior diverges from standardized temperature proxies• Includes field observations, structured regime tables, and a conceptual pathway figure
Theophilus W. Wangata (Thu,) studied this question.