Photos from Canada

Canada can be a not so nice place to live in the winter — mainly because of the weather. The weather in Calgary crappy right now and I just thought I would share. But, rather than doing a “the weather sucks in Calgary” post I decided to pull in the ranks of friends, bloggers and family who live across Canada and who have a digital camera in order to give everyone an opportunity to see what is happening in other provinces.

Some provinces are missing from the list below – mainly because I don’t know people in all the provinces. However, in doing the post I began to see a trend: Canada is cold, wet and snowy… so, chances are the missing provinces are “cold, wet and snowy”.

Comox, British Columbia

Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. 40 percent chance of flurries over southern sections. Temperatures steady near minus 5.

It rarely snows in Comox, British Columbia. This is the reason why this small town is a choice retirement spot for many Canadians. This is also the reason why I often go for visits in the winter – to get a reprieve from the cold of Alberta. But, according to my grandparents, it has been snowing in Comox since Christmas and they are not enjoying it one bit. My grandfather tells me that they haven’t left their house in days.

Nelson, British Columbia

Forecast: Clearing. Temperature falling to minus 12 by evening.

Nelson is a lovely little mountain town nestled high in the Rocky Mountains. It’s the kind of place that reminds you of the little icing cake towns that you find in Austria or Germany. These photos come from Boxing Day. Wibbit writes: We woke up this morning and there was two inches of packed, heavy snow on the ground and the trees – [but by] 1:00 here it has all completely melted… It’s raining from the trees.

Calgary, Alberta

Forecast: Sunny. Wind north 20 km/h. High minus 24. Wind chill minus 36.

Cold. Cold. Cold. At first it is deceiving when you look outside – the sky is blue and the sun is out. You think – wow, what a nice day. But the moment you step outside and your nostrils stick together you know you were fooled. I took the photos this afternoon on my way to Safeway. You will notice in the background of the “big sky” photo that there is exhaust coming out of the buildings along the skyline. Well, it is so cold that the exhaust can’t rise up – is has to move to the side because it is so cold.

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Forecast: A few clouds. Wind northwest 15 km/h. Low minus 34. Extreme wind chill minus 41.

Winnipeg – a.k.a. Winter-peg is one of the colder cities in Canada – mostly because it is so far inland. Information on the weather in Winnipeg comes from Random Fusion’s weblog. He writes: Looking outside and seeing that it is no longer snowing is comforting, but knowing that with the windchill out there, its about -45 Celsius, makes it way more tempting to call in sick. I would like very much to stay in bed, let the rad’s warm up the apartment and sleep the morning away.

The photos for Winnipeg come from the CBC Winnipeg site because I don’t know anyone in Winnipeg who owns a digital camera :(.

Whitehorse, Yukon

Forecast: Cloudy with sunny periods. 40 percent chance of flurries. Wind north 20 km/h. High minus 18. Cold wind chill minus 28. Risk of frostbite.

It seems that quite a few people went to Whitehorse this year for Christmas. This was probably a smart choice considering it is warmer up North than it is in other parts of Canada. Though, I’m sure the lack of light in the North can be depressing on some days. The photo comes via Calon who sent it last night when he was talking to dP on the phone.

Wilmot, Nova Scotia

Forecast: Snow mixed with ice pellets and freezing rain changing to rain showers this evening. Snowfall amount 2 to 5 cm. Rainfall amount 2 to 5 mm. Wind southeast 20 km/h becoming light overnight. Temperature rising to 5 by morning.

Nova Scotia is the warmest of the provinces that I can see today, which is good because Nova Scotianers are usually cursed by mountains of snow in the winter months. They deserve a break once in a while. Bob writes about the weather: Wet snow, freezing rain, and then rain. It might be something pretty tomorrow. I always keep a B & W film in my 35mm in case we have an ice storm.

On January 4, Bob writes: We had a sprinkling of snow overnight but this morning, as I take these pictures around the yard, it is raining and a bit misty. Currently, it is +2 degrees C. The long things you see in the garden are what is left of the brussel sprouts. The spots you see on the pictures are not lens dirt. It’s probably speckles of rain. True to Nova Scotia’s ever-changing weather, a few hours later it was raining and all the snow was gone.

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Halifax and Wilmot are close enough that they – for the most part – experience the same weather. Though during the hurricane, the Valley experienced some strong winds while Halifax was laid to waste. Paul writes: I took 2 pictures this morning out the back. No ice storm. We got about 2 cm of snow here around supper last night, but it was all but gone this morning – it’s 3 degrees out right now (at 9:29am) going up to a high of 6 today. Haven’t had anything shovelable yet here. The coldest it has been is -9 and that only happened once.

Grand Falls, Newfoundland

Forecast: Cloudy with snow beginning near noon. Amount 10 cm. Wind southeast 30 km/h with coastal gusts to 60. High zero.

The rock can have the craziest weather but apparently they don’t today: it is wet and windy! Typical for Newfoundland. Kari writes: Blizzard-like conditions have descended on the village. Into survival mode I keep myself busy tending the fire and standing over a pot of split-pea soup with an open book at hand.

Blaine Lake, Saskatchewan

Forecast: Cloudy periods. 30 percent chance of flurries. Wind northwest 30 km/h. Low minus 21. Wind chill minus 33.

It seems like it is always freezing in Saskatchewan, and these days it is also pretty dry. Saskatchewan is experiencing drought conditions and the farmers are hoping for moisture. The gorgeous Saskatchewan photo comes from Jordon who writes as a caption: “…it’s freezing here today.”

Anchorage, Alaska

I thought I would end on an different note. The last photos come from Robbie who drove the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse and then spent another brutal 20 hours driving to Anchorage, Alaska for Christmas. She writes: “The temperature was very cold when we arrived here – about -30C, and has since reached about -10. Everyone is driving with studded tires around here – the roads are very icy, and my car has managed very well in the conditions. We’ve needed to stop several times for ‘bad’ moose crossing the roads, some of which just hang around like kids in a shopping mall. We’ve seen elk, caribou, coyotes and mountain sheep also throughout our trip. It’s been quite the adventure so far! One of the best sights was Mt. McKinley – it must have been the best winter day to see it. Normally there are several thick clouds looming around it, so we really lucked out.”