Snowmageddon?

Just a quick post to illustrate how quickly the weather goes from agreeable to less so. Wednesday saw temperatures of +11, the warmest day since November 14th. Yesterday was +13. The chinook was in full force both days, drawing in milder air from the other side of the Rockies. 'Snow eater indeed', as a friend said on facebook yesterday. 

And today? A city-wide snowfall warning and temperatures about 20 degrees lower. We don't get large snowfalls all at once; typically 3cm here, 3cm there, but because it's so cold it hangs around and eventually becomes quite a covering. But because people are obliged to clear their pavements outside their homes/offices etc, it's never usually a problem to clear a centimetre or two. Except, today, we're due for anything up to 25cm from now till Saturday evening. And when that happens here, everything grinds to a complete halt. I've picked a great day to go into town for birthday celebrations!

Do Not Pass Go..

..do not collect $200, go directly to winter. It's an often repeated joke in Calgary, "there are two seasons here: winter, and road reconstruction". On September 16th, we had an all-time September record high temperature of +33C. There then followed a week in the low-to-mid twenties. Then about 10 days of 'seasonal' weather (a nebulous term in these parts). And then ten days ago we went straight into winter. Daytime highs below zero, negative double digits at night, and repeated threats of snow. Having to wear full winter regalia for the five minute walk to work, that sort of thing. And here's the scene on Wednesday morning after 24 hours of steady snowfall:It's back to 'seasonal' now and the snow is largely melted, but it's going to be a long, long winter if we consider it could be May before it finally stops. An occupational hazard of living here, I suppose.

You Know You've Lived in Canada Too Long When:

...you look at the TV weather forecast and think "ah, it's only -15 outside" and don't bother with the woolly hat, or 'tuque', as they are apparently known in these here parts.

This Is More Like It

I would have thought, living in Canada, that I'd have seen more snow before now this winter. A couple of weeks ago someone described the weather as "unseasonably warm for this time of year"...it was all of five degrees. We've had a couple of snowfalls of a couple of inches that have hung around for quite a long time due to the low temperatures at this time of year; this week saw a real plunge in the temperatures such that on wednesday morning it was -16C (with a windchill of -23C) when I set off to walk to work. That's cold enough to make your nasal hair freeze. But, to my knowledge, there was no snow forecast last night. But the climate of Calgary is an erratic one due to the close proximity of the Rocky Mountains which are about an hour's drive away. And so I wake up this morning to see the following scene from the windows of Beige Towers. Up to fifteen cm expected today. I'm glad it's happened today rather than two weeks from now, seeing as that's when I fly home and a cancelled/severely delayed flight would not be quite such good news when there would only be another two days to make alternative arrangements to get home in time for Christmas...!