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Syndicate
yesterday we broke the record for the warmest temp recorded here on that date by several degrees. Was plus 2.
Lots of snow on the mountains , not much on the valley floor, sledders are happily sledding. Seems they are out earlier this year. Perhaps to get sledding in before the unstable snow conditions occur?
-5 in T.O.
Light flurries, and the first snow that hasn't melted as it hit the ground. Just a dusting for us though, while they're expecting serious snowfall in the snowbelt to the north and west.
Hey Serious snow in the north and west. Oh that's me! Fun driving tonight. Glad I am home.
Glad you're home safe too. Got the snow tires on?
I have them on my car but mom's doesn't - of who's I was driving (as she was shivering with fear in the back seat) but I managed. When I told her I couldn't safely switch lanes to pass someone who was braking a lot she said "I am getting snow tires as soon as all this crap clears up!". She lives further south and didn't realize the weather up here as this is the first year I have lived up here and thus giving her reason to visit. Just settling in for hibernation the next couple of days as I hear the storm will last awhile :-).
My son loves watching the snow fly by the window - almost as fun as watching the fire (only safer for mommy to relax and let him watch).
Oh yes, fires and children are worriesome.
When my granddaughter was small and would visit, I would sleep on the couch in the family room, as she would get up in the middle of the night to "watch the fire", and was scared she would touch sides of wood stove and burn those little star fish hands.
Nowadays, being that we have a different house, that would not be an issue though if my daughter decided to have another child.
Speaking of family they are coming this week for an extended Christmas visit. Woot!
8C and no sign of snow here, but we're expecting 100km/h wind soon. There's snow forecast for us later in the week, but not much.
Yea, sounds like a good Christmas. My mother too is coming for an extended Christmas visit. We haven't gotten together in a few years for Christmas because we have always been off visiting different family at Christmas time so it should be nice.
We are currently having a small forest fire on the lower slopes of the mountain behind us, all standing dead pine beetle, seems funny to see trees crowning with fire on the back drop of snow.
Have not had Christmas with daughter in 4 years.
Must be a cool sight. I hope your Christmas goes well.
Welll I have been all week in Montreal and I must say that I am looking forward to the BC drizzle.
Still no snow, temp is still 5C this evening, the wind is finally dying down, and the rain is light. It looks more like spring here than winter!
Hard hit here. Snow coming out my ears. Feels kinda nice to see a real winter again and it's only December.
We are getting capital W - Winter now. Brutal cold, blowing snow and tons of it, and school buses cancelled. Frozen cars, icy roads, bad visibility everywhere. Plowed the driveway yesterday and it needs it again today. Looks incredible - beautiful - till you breathe in and the snot freezes in your nostrils.
Absolutely beautiful here, mild and melting, very little snow on the valley floors. Tried to snow and blow on Monday, but petered out and moved on to bug Polly's life.
Thanks refuge.
H'lo Boomer. Just struck me...they have not allowed for "lake effect" snowfall to the east and south of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. You perhaps heard about 300 motorists having to be "rescued" off Hwy 402 between London and Sarnia? The whole area got whacked with a northerly that blew down the length of Huron, and London has looked like something from Al Capp's Outer Slobovia for weeks now. Or perhaps you don't go back to Capp?
But I guess you don't get "gulf effect" stuff?
I don't know what's going on, George. Weare having the same winter (so far...) as last year - almost no snow, above average temps, etc... but also very strong wind and heavy rain.
Yes, I saw the news about all those stranded motorists and the Army rescues. Amazing. I was in London (Ontario) 1969 - 1971 and don't recall their winters as being that severe back then.
We're going to Sarnia this Christmas. To the same relatives who teased us mercilessly when Toronto's mayor called in the military eleven years ago for that epic snowfall.
Apparently in Sarnia, the problem of stranded motorists was magnified when people kept driving around the police roadblocks and into massive drifts of snow. Determined Christmas shoppers, I guess.
You will have fun reminding them of winter possibilities outside of "Mel's Toronto," Sineed. Hope they are able to make it home with the turkey and all the trimmings this week. Sarnia, of course, has one of the most progressive mayors in Canada (at least, I hope that the fella interviewed a few years back for Michael Moore's "Sicko" still directs council there).
Just checked the forecast - Monday we are supposed to get rain and temp of 3C - in January??? This is similar to last year's winter so far, which was the warmest here on record. Last winter, I did not get to use my new snowblower at all - and I used it this week for the first time; last Monday we had a mini-blizzard which gave us six inches of snow, and some drifts.
I guess all that stuff we read about last winter - Gulf Stream Diversion and the Arctic Oscillation is repeating itself this winter, but a couple of newer theories have surfaced since then, includng this one which I linked to earlier on another thread: Bundle Up, It's Global Warming
Holy crap. It's a beautiful sunny day here and 4C in January! And the snow has all but disappeared. I'm tempted to put the skidoo and snowblower back into storage.
Today is the fifth straight Monday we have had a snowstorm or torrential rains.
We were forecast to get the same weather here, but it's sunny - although clouds are moving in now, so it could change later today.
ps: welcome back!
And good to see you as well, Boom Boom. We topped out at about 10 cm today. Mild weather compared to some of the storms we had in December in NB.
Very little snow here. A good rain will be the end of it.
ETA: revised forecast here calls for wet snow beginning this afternoon.
Blizzard expected here this weekend, and this week has been colder - temps overnight are -20C to - 25C.
An article which explains the effect of mild winters here on Quebec's Lower North Shore with (Google) English translation: Un deuxième hiver sans neige en Basse-Côte-Nord
"It's worse than last year, said the mayor of Mécatina, Randy Jones. Les lacs ne sont même pas gelés. The lakes are not even frozen. En ce moment, je suis à la fenêtre de mon bureau, et je peux voir une chaloupe à la mer, et un quatre roue qui circule. Right now, I'm at the window of my office and I can see a boat at sea, and a four wheel (ATV) which circulates. Ça soulève beaucoup de problèmes. It raises many problems. Chaque village devient une île. Each village becomes an island. Ça joue sur le moral des gens partout. It plays on people's morale everywhere. Le meilleur temps de l'année en Basse-Côte, c'est l'hiver.» The best time of year in Lower Coast, it's winter. "
En effet, le gros des activités et des rassemblements se font l'hiver en Basse-Côte-Nord. Indeed, the bulk of activities and gatherings are the winter in Lower North Shore. Sans neige, impossible de circuler, donc plus de parties de hockey entre villages, plus de visiteurs lors des fêtes et festivals, plus de touristes. Without snow, unable to move, so no more hockey games between villages, no more visitors during holidays and festivals, most tourists. Pour les gens de Harrington Harbour, qui sont sur une île, la neige leur permettait de se rendre sur terre pour couper du bois pour l'hiver. For the people of Harrington Harbour, who are on an island, snow and ice allowed them to go on land to cut wood for winter. Tout devient désormais beaucoup plus compliqué. Everything becomes much more complicated now.
«La liste des problèmes est longue, affirme le président du conseil municipal de Harrington Harbour, Paul Rowsell. "The list of problems is long," said council chairman of Harrington Harbour, Paul Rowsell. Les gens peuvent aller chercher du bois. People can go to fetch wood. Mais c'est beaucoup plus compliqué. But it's much more complicated. La plupart de nos événements pour lever des fonds pour différents programmes se font l'hiver. Most of our events to raise funds for various programs are in winter. Mais quand personne ne peut y venir, c'est un problème. But when nobody can get there, is a problem. Et l'hiver sans touriste, ça va créer beaucoup de problèmes financiers.» And winter without tourists, it will create a lot of financial problems. "
«La seule vraie solution est de finir la route. "The only real solution is to finish the road. Pas besoin d'être économiste pour savoir que les gens des villages les plus dévitalisés de la Côte-Nord n'ont pas les moyens de se payer l'avion. Not need an economist to know that people of the villages most lifeless of the North Shore can not afford the plane. Et quand le gouvernement veut, il peut. And when the government wants, he can. L'an dernier, on se disait que c'était de la malchance. Last year (mild winter) we said it was bad luck. Deux hivers de suite, ça commence à être inquiétant», déclare M. Jones. Two (mild) winters in a row, it starts to be disturbing, "says Jones.
We've got way more snow than is usual, and it's been colder than average, too. It's -34 this morning, -46 with wind chill factor.
The good news - my Volvo, Malificent, still started.
The bad news is it shattered.
No! Volvos are tough! :p
I was beginning to think we would get though January without even hitting -30. I can't believe people (who don't actually have a reason to, I mean) are complaining about this weather. They're saying it might shoot up today to 0 in Maple Creek, of course.
And the only time I can think of that my old volvo (a 240) needed something extra was one morning I had to park up the driveway, so I couldn't plug it in. This was in '97 when the temperature stayed at -49 (no, not with wind chill) for about a week. I brought the battery in, of course. But I also had to drain the engine oil into a pot, bring it inside and warm it up on the woodstove.
It was also so cold that trees were breaking, axe handles were breaking, and I broke a stud off one of my wheel hubs trying to change a tire. After that I gave up and stayed inside.