What Is The Weather Today? (No Mercury Jockeying!)

[Prairiedawg]

Originally Posted by Harrison

I will take sunny and -20 over 0 and overcast any day of the week, but that may be due to having lived in Kitchener-Waterloo for 5 years and being from Northern Alberta (I am accustomed to sunny and cold winters). Constant clouds do make for a more dreary winter imo - I don't know how folks in Vancouver do it...

Calgary being the sunniest city in Canada I can definitely say I know I prefer Sunny and cold over wet and hovering around zero, especially if there is a wind. At colder temperatures a wind breaker completely eliminates any windchill factor but if it's humid there's nothing to block it.

I do feel for the maritimes this last weekend and all the snow they tend to get this time of year. Calgary got slammed multiple times this Winter with snow events that were almost as much as what Halifax got and there's nothing that can interrupt your day as much as like having to shovel or worst case have to get your car pushed out of a side street when snow is higher than the roadway under carriage clearance on your car.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Prairiedawg

I do feel for the maritimes this last weekend and all the snow they tend to get this time of year. Calgary got slammed multiple times this Winter with snow events that were almost as much as what Halifax got and there's nothing that can interrupt your day as much as like having to shovel or worst case have to get your car pushed out of a side street when snow is higher than the roadway under carriage clearance on your car.

Halifax
Days per year with snowfall >= 10 cm: 4.8
Days per year with snowfall >= 25 cm: 0.61

[Prairiedawg]

Originally Posted by someone123

Halifax
Days per year with snowfall >= 10 cm: 4.8
Days per year with snowfall >= 25 cm: 0.61

I guess this matches what I'm thinking too, especially if snow storms there are over several days it averages out to "smaller" amounts each day.

For example Halifax got 28.2 cms of snow Sunday which is well over the 25 cm mark but also got an additional 24.4 cms yesterday which is just barely under the 25 cm mark which is 53 cms of snow in total according to Environment Canada, which seems close to a statistical snow amount there for a storm. This is on top of the 15.2 cms of snow Halifax got last Tuesday.

Calgary got 15.2 cms of snow one of the days just before Christmas and there were snow plows on the roads for days later.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Prairiedawg

I guess this matches what I'm thinking too, especially if snow storms there are over several days it averages out to "smaller" amounts each day.

For example Halifax got 28.2 cms of snow Sunday which is well over the 25 cm mark but also got an additional 24.4 cms yesterday which is just barely under the 25 cm mark which is 53 cms of snow in total according to Environment Canada, which is close to a statistical snow amount there for a storm.

Yes except there are 0.61 days of 25 cm per year. So this is not actually common at all. A 25 cm snow day is much less common there than a winter day that hits +10. Or a day in Calgary that goes below -30.

Some years will have more than 1 day with 25 cm so the modal year probably has 0 storms that hit 25 cm.

[q12]

https://twitter.com/ryansnoddon/status/1359171507201708042

52 cm at the airport, but only 28 cm Downtown.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by q12

52 cm at the airport, but only 28 cm Downtown.

A completely typical ratio. And as we saw from the stats, a once per 2 year type event.

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by Harrison

I will take sunny and -20 over 0 and overcast any day of the week, but that may be due to having lived in Kitchener-Waterloo for 5 years and being from Northern Alberta (I am accustomed to sunny and cold winters). Constant clouds do make for a more dreary winter imo - I don't know how folks in Vancouver do it...

Because things at least remain green. You gain cloud, but you also gain life year-round, as opposed to sun on dead, frozen vegetation and brown snow. It helps to make sunnier, milder winter days feel truly like spring as opposed to a melt/thaw day that really just creates a mess.

I liked the sunny cold days in Montreal, but once fresh snow has been on the ground for a few days, the streetscapes are so grim.

[Airboy]

I do have to say when the temps drop this low I wait for the phone calls about heating problems on some of my projects.

2 calls this week about Make up air fans shutting down because it was to cold. The supplier indicated it was because cold air is more dense and that means the fans are moving more air and that is the reason they shut down. when I looked deeper because I know the supplier is full of it. it appears that the gas pressure dropped to much. this is in a small community so when everyone needed more heat the gas pressure dropped.

The temp in the region was -41.not unheard of and well within our design parameters.

I used to hate the first cold snaps because of all the calls. Now I wait for the challenge.

[Denscity]

Cloudy winters also prevent lethal overnight lows common east of the Rockies. Another reason why BC has the best hardiness zones in the country.

Edit: ...and homeless people from across the country.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by Prairiedawg

Calgary being the sunniest city in Canada I can definitely say I know I prefer Sunny and cold over wet and hovering around zero, especially if there is a wind. At colder temperatures a wind breaker completely eliminates any windchill factor but if it's humid there's nothing to block it.

I do feel for the maritimes this last weekend and all the snow they tend to get this time of year. Calgary got slammed multiple times this Winter with snow events that were almost as much as what Halifax got and there's nothing that can interrupt your day as much as like having to shovel or worst case have to get your car pushed out of a side street when snow is higher than the roadway under carriage clearance on your car.

Originally Posted by someone123

Yes except there are 0.61 days of 25 cm per year. So this is not actually common at all. A 25 cm snow day is much less common there than a winter day that hits +10. Or a day in Calgary that goes below -30.

Some years will have more than 1 day with 25 cm so the modal year probably has 0 storms that hit 25 cm.

I guess it's relative. Calgary sees less snow Jan-Feb than Halifax, and snow events beyond 5cm are a once every 2 year event. Seeing a storm, even a pretty small one by our standards, can be offputting for those not adjusted to it.

Both cities are pretty much cake walks compared to snowier cities in the country.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Marty_Mcfly

I guess it's relative. Calgary sees less snow Jan-Feb than Halifax, and snow events beyond 5cm are a once every 2 year event. Seeing a storm, even a pretty small one by our standards, can be offputting for those not adjusted to it.

But it wasn't a small storm by the standards of Halifax. A 25 cm storm hitting Halifax is a once per 2 year level event, or marginally more common than that once you account for boundaries across days (which would count against the 10 cm number, i.e. a single 25 cm storm spread over 2 days accounts for on average 41.7% of the >= 10 cm events for a year). Bigger storms have happened but they are rarer still. I remember White Juan vividly but the odds of experiencing that event if you spend even 5 years in the city are small.

Victoria's airport gets 1.3 10 cm storms a year on average. So a 25 cm storm is less than half as likely in Halifax than a 10 cm is at Victoria's airport. Nobody here would ever say that a 10 cm snow event in Victoria is small by Victoria's standards (the biggest snowstorm there being 64.5 cm in 1996) or imply that it's normal weather. Some may get the impression that this comparison is some kind of competition but I am just making a very basic argument about statistical reasoning. We should have consistent standards for what is or isn't common, if we're really concerned about that, and we should distinguish between common and uncommon events. It makes a big difference if something happens once every 7 days or once every 700 days.

[harls]

Originally Posted by Harrison

I will take sunny and -20 over 0 and overcast any day of the week

The -51 windchill makes people say strange things..

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by someone123

But it wasn't a "small" storm by the standards of Halifax (and 5 cm isn't a once every 2 year event in Calgary, it is more like 7 times per year). A 25 cm storm hitting Halifax is a once per 2 year level event, or maybe trivially more common than that once you account for boundaries across days. Bigger storms have happened but they are rarer still.

Victoria's airport gets 1.3 10 cm storms a year on average. So a 25 cm storm is less than half as likely in Halifax than a 10 cm is at Victoria's airport. Nobody here would ever say that a 10 cm snow event in Victoria is small by Victoria's standards or imply that it's normal weather.

Dude, no one is saying it snows in Halifax every day, or that a 25 cm storm is common occurrence. Yes, there are parts of the Maritimes that are damn snowy, look no further than Moncton. Way snowier than Calgary...and yes, snow is a real pain in the —. I don't see the problem with their comment?

My comment regarding 5 cm snow events, or my comment in general, was pertaining to January & February, the typical peak winter months. If you want to be a contrarian then bump up the threshold to 10 cm. I don't think anyone on the east coast would blink an eye on a snowfall of 12 cm.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Marty_Mcfly

Way snowier than Calgary...and yes, snow is a real pain in the —. I don't see the problem with their comment?

I don't have a problem with it. I'm just adding some nuance and detail. We saw some really basic information added recently like how much snow actually fell in the city (28 cm, not 52 cm) and how common the event is (slightly over once every 2 years, i.e. you are about as likely to pick a random day that has a major US federal election as you are to pick a random day where it hits >= 25 cm of snow in Halifax).

My comment regarding 5 cm snow events, or my comment in general, was pertaining to January & February, the typical peak winter months. If you want to be a contrarian then bump up the threshold to 10 cm. I don't think anyone on the east coast would blink an eye on a snowfall of 12 cm.

I guess I don't get the point of why we'd focus on January and February ("I'm really shocked by snowstorms in February but not May"). In Calgary, more snow events happen during the "shoulder season" corresponding to the months of November and March. Actually 10 cm of snow is more likely in May in Calgary than January. They're two different cities with two different climates.

If we do care only about snowfall in January and February then the probability of >= 25 cm in Jan is 0.18 and Feb 0.14 in Halifax. "Big snow storm in February" is a once in 7 years event. They're less common in Calgary but around the tail of the distribution of what you'd expect in either city.

I am not really sure about your 12 cm comment. I wouldn't assume 12 cm in Halifax is a "nothing" event. It's possible on those days for school to be cancelled, transit disrupted, etc. I don't think there really is a universal "East Coast" culture of rugged souls who shrug off snow. It all depends on the area and the lifestyles of the people. If you are living in an interior area with a big house and driveway then yes you need to be prepared. If you're in the city or along the coast then it's not like that so much. That Citadel station is somewhere in the middle for snowfall for the metro. Sambro only gets 114 cm of snow a year.

[Tancredi]

Originally Posted by hollywoodcory

Your correct. Not only do more people die from the heat, extreme heat is the deadliest form of extreme weather.
https://weather.com/en-CA/canada/science/news/2018-05-31-weather-event-fatalities-heat

I still prefer heat to cold, but it still requires one to take precautions.

It must also be said that many more people live in the warm regions of the planet than in the cold regions

[Denscity]

Man -10C is frosty. Even without any wind.
And the exhaust from my vehicle just sat there in a cloud. Kinda eerie seeing that at night not used to seeing it.

[wave46]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Man -10C is frosty. Even without any wind.
And the exhaust from my vehicle just sat there in a cloud. Kinda eerie seeing that at night not used to seeing it.

It's fun when ice fog becomes a thing. Basically, at a certain temperature (say below -35C) all the water vapour emitted by cars and furnaces just hangs in the air, enveloping a town in ice fog.

I used to associate fog with warmish temperatures. Now I've learned there's a doom cold fog as well.

[Denscity]

Ha oh yes.

[Nicko999]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

I've experienced both for literal decade(s) in each spot, as this is my tenth winter here, and still come to the same conclusion, so I'll stick with my original statement.

Currently -29 at 8 am. Still haven't broken the -30 mark, but likely to happen tomorrow night.

You might feel this way because of where you've lived/grown up. It feels milder to me when the dewpoint is closer to 0C than when it's -15C (same temperature and condition in both cases). Doesn't mean it's true but your mind is a powerful thing.

[Nicko999]

-7C with a wind chill of -12 and a mix of sun and clouds.

Low of -11C (wind chill of -15). The clouds kept the temperature bearable this morning. I am so glad we don't have to experience anything close to the temps in the Prairies.

The warmspot was Solander Island, BC at 6.0C.

And by special request, the coldest place in the country was Pelly Ranch, YT with an incredible -50.3C.