Surprisingly, hypothermia can occur at any temperature lower than normal body temperature. Factors like body fat, age, alcohol consumption, and especially wetness can affect how long hypothermia takes to strike. If you fall into water, the situation becomes drastically more dangerous.For example, in water 32.5 degrees Fahrenheit or colder, you might not survive more than 15-to-45 minutes.nder these conditions frost bite can occur in just 30 minutes. In some areas of the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest, wind chill reached below negative 60 degrees, according to the NWS, when exposed skin can freeze in just freeze in 10 minutes.