the weather

One of the things that occupied our tiny minds before leaving for Canada was the weather. How would we survive, let alone enjoy life, in extreme cold. We survived the worst blizzard since 1986. School was cancelled. 65% of the students at Barrhead Elementary School travel to school on a bus. The snow was coming in sideways. The weather following that was seriously cold. We headed for school the next morning in -39 C.The boys enjoyed the blizzard and spent a couple of hours in the back yard digging in the snow.


The temperature has rarely climbed above zero. The temp hovers between 0 and -25. The air is dry and mostly there is little wind. Layers of clothes good gloves and headgear are enough to keep out the cold. -17 C is about the temperature at which your nasal hairs get frosty. Now that's a nasty sensation.

Many Canadians hate the snow. We still love it. It offers us a whole range of new joys. The snow that falls just stays. Because of the cold the snow is not at all sticky and mostly it runs like loose sand between your gloved fingers. We need to wait for spring before we can make snowmen.

Snow means work. Local by-laws stipulate that you need to clear your sidewalk within 24hrs of a snow fall.