Hi everyone
The weather guide on my desktop shows that Calgary is having quite a cold spell at the momment with lows of -24 (weather.com). Could any of you locals share with us potential future Calgarians a little of what these temperatures are like?
Living in Boston I am used to -10 but your lows are a lot lowwer.
Can one still walk around outside? How does it effect driving and other daily activities? How else does it affect your lives?
Thank you
Lynette
Full Version: The weather in Calgary
Hi Lynette,
Calgary actually has one of the most moderate weather patterns of the Prairie cities/towns. The reason for this is the Chinook wind that frequents this part of Alberta. This is much like the "bergwind" that we had in the Cape, but it can last a couple of weeks at a time, and raises the temperatures to around 0°C - quite pleasant! It is true however that we do have temperatures in the high -20s right now, and we have that every year for about three weeks total during January and early February. Walking outside is still OK though, like right now it's probably about -20 outside, but it is a beautiful sunny day. Although we don't have it that often it is important to take an extension lead with you on days like that to plug the engine block heater of your vehicle into one of the handy power outlets that most parking lots around here have, especially if you have to leave your car outside overnight. We are actually planning to go for a drive in the country and get a hot chocolate at Bragg Creek (a little hamlet about 50km out of Calgary) or Cochrane. Both in the foothills of the Rockies. I will take my camera along and take some piccies for you! (Harry you've started something now!)
Greetings
Calgary actually has one of the most moderate weather patterns of the Prairie cities/towns. The reason for this is the Chinook wind that frequents this part of Alberta. This is much like the "bergwind" that we had in the Cape, but it can last a couple of weeks at a time, and raises the temperatures to around 0°C - quite pleasant! It is true however that we do have temperatures in the high -20s right now, and we have that every year for about three weeks total during January and early February. Walking outside is still OK though, like right now it's probably about -20 outside, but it is a beautiful sunny day. Although we don't have it that often it is important to take an extension lead with you on days like that to plug the engine block heater of your vehicle into one of the handy power outlets that most parking lots around here have, especially if you have to leave your car outside overnight. We are actually planning to go for a drive in the country and get a hot chocolate at Bragg Creek (a little hamlet about 50km out of Calgary) or Cochrane. Both in the foothills of the Rockies. I will take my camera along and take some piccies for you! (Harry you've started something now!)
Greetings
Lynette, -20 is bitterly cold, and I seldom go outside in these temps except to dash to the car, or from the car into the store. This is the type of cold that you can die in if you're not properly dressed and prepared for it (a teen died the other day, walking home late at night - very sad). That said, I see my neighbors still taking their dogs out for their walks, so I assume it is cold that one can get used to if you give it a chance. Just dress for it. The icy roads aren't pleasant for driving, but one does get used to it, and you just slow down, and break long before you have to. 
And, as Hendie says, the Chinook comes along and melts everything, thank goodness. The next one is due next week. Yahoo!
This is the type of cold that you can die in if you're not properly dressed and prepared for it (a teen died the other day, walking home late at night - very sad). That said, I see my neighbors still taking their dogs out for their walks, so I assume it is cold that one can get used to if you give it a chance. Just dress for it. The icy roads aren't pleasant for driving, but one does get used to it, and you just slow down, and break long before you have to. And, as Hendie says, the Chinook comes along and melts everything, thank goodness. The next one is due next week. Yahoo!
Truth to be told - if it weren't for the Chinooks I would not stay in Calgary during the winters. Sunburn is much easier to endure than frostbite! -20 is still okay - if the wind isn't blowing! It is also the windchill factor that you need to keep in mind for when you are getting dressed to go outside. What does -20 matter when it will feels like it is -36 outside?
If your hair is still slightly damp in the mornings it is asking for trouble. Do you really want to look like Kate Winslet after the Titanic sank? Your hair will freeze! If your nose is runny then your nose will freeze... if your eyes tear up that can freeze. Do not ever ever run for anything when it so cold outside! You will experience a most unpleasant feeling as if your lungs are on fire - trust me it hurts! Even if you are strolling around your clothes will get icy cold and after a while it will feel as if you aren't wearing any! (Hence the reason to dress properly!) Your entire body grows numb and the cold burns or shall I say.. it stings?! I have also made the mistake of jumping into a hot shower right afterwards, and sometimes that isn't even the best way to warm up again! Thawing out can be quite painful. Oh and the windburns wrecks your skin! Have lots of lotion handy at all times!
I really hate this weather though. Hence my cheery outlook! Luckily it is only a few days out of every year.
Oh and of course! The most simplest and basic piece of advice... never touch any metal objects with your bare hands or your tongue!
Apparently you get stuck to the object!
We cannot really talk along about cold here in Vancouver...but last night it hit -11C at the airport. That makes it the coldest we have had in Vancouver since I moved here in mid-2000.
Hendie...ek siet vir djou! .
..da by nine-thitty pos in die oggend, nê!
Ons wag vir die fotos, nê!
Hendie...ek siet vir djou!
...da by nine-thitty pos in die oggend, nê!
Ons wag vir die fotos, nê!
The Canada One west of Calgary on the way to Canmore. The turnoff ahead is the one to Bragg Creek and Cochrane. This is a composite of three pictures blended together.
Bragg Creek is a cozy little arty village or hamlet at the foot of the Rockies. A popular destination for art lovers and travellers.
Note the piles of snow in the parking lot!
The town is full of fir trees and quaint little shops to while away the time on a lazy Sunday afternoon, sipping away on a cup of streaming hot chocolate.
Hmmm...Hendie....it seems too cold for me, eh! I'd better stick to Vancouver. I was not born for this white stuff, man. It's cold when you touch it!...and it melts and gets you wet. Also, I worked for years to get my centre of Gravity to settle around my belly-button. Skiing seems to go against keeping that centre of gravity under control.
That's a nice job you dit on the montage of the three shots. Took me a long time before I could see where you joined them up...seems your camera has very nicely flat colour balance across its view, or did you have to doctor it a bit?
That's a nice job you dit on the montage of the three shots. Took me a long time before I could see where you joined them up...seems your camera has very nicely flat colour balance across its view, or did you have to doctor it a bit?
Thanks for the replies everyone!
Hendie the pictures are great!!
Hendie the pictures are great!!
Calgary se wolkekrabbers gistermiddag so teen 4nm. Toe was dit nog lekker koud (so -20°C), maar vanmiddag het die Chinook genadiglik begin inbeweeg, en môre reken hulle gaan ons temperature bo vriespunt hê. Sorry Liz, maar lyk my die Chinook het nou die koue lug na julle kant toe gedruk!
On our rounds this past Saturday during the Scouts Bottle Drive (see article elsewhere) I was yet again amazed at the hoar frost that collected on the shrubs and trees in our community. It is probably one of the most beautiful natural phenomenon that I have experienced!
Julle weet, every now and then (more now than then) I am thinking I am NOT made for this cold weather, but, beautiful pictures, such as the ones Hendie has send in, wakes you up again and just reminds you how beautiful winter can be.......... . We had the same here for the past 2 weeks in TO - very, very cold. We live near Lake Ontario and also the Credit River and with the extreme cold and the warmer waters of the Lake - it looked like clouds coming up from the Lake and it was just the most awesome picture I have ever seen! I did not have a digital camera with me, but did take pictures with my little Canon (pocketsize and always in my handbag) but with me were a dozen professional photographers clicking away........... unreal. Same thing happened last weekend and most people still in bed sleeping - my husband and I were up early and on our way out of the city - the sun was red as blood and coming up over Lake Ontario - awesome and THEN ex-South Africans tell me the sun is never so beautiful here as it is in South Africa........... you are all in bed and fast asleep friends!! BUT, Calgary has had some plus degrees this past week, did it not?!
Here during winter I am very aware of the outside temps every day. If you look outside, the sky is blue, there is no wind and the sun is shining with many a time patches of snow on the ground. Our homes inside are very warm and cozy, so looking through a window and seeing the sun shining, is very deceiving. Inside its so nice and warm and outside the sun is shining, so how cold can it be out there because it doesn't look that cold :-)
I have learned here in Calgary to check the weather channel on TV daily ( I think its channel 17 - one channel that for the whole day only broadcasts current weather info for the whole of Canada and every 10 mins your region's forecast will come up)
Two very useful sites to bookmark if you spend a winter here is :
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/c...es/CAAB0049.htm
http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/forecast/city_e.html?yyc
These sites I check early in the morning before the kids go to school to tell them before they head out, how cold it is ( most kids here go to school with busses, either the big yellow school ones or city transit busses) and walking to the busstop and waiting there a few minutes for the bus to arrive can be a way different experience depending on how cold it is going to be on that day.
I also check the current weather conditions online just before I head out the door walking our dog. On really cold days, -5 c and colder, he gets dressed in 2 layers, winter leggings with shoes on made of leather to protect his feet, and then his warm woolly coat over that, dogs like mine with very thin short hair needs winter clothes as well. We do not walk when its colder than - 10c outside. With our long winters, I find that I long to get out of the home and get some exercise, and walking is good as long as its not too icy, then make sure you have good shoes with lots of traction to keep you from sliding on icy patches. Those of us with an eager dog, knows about a dog pulling on his leash and pulling you easily off your feet on the ice :-)
With the warm Chinook winds we often get here and the close proximity to the Rocky mountains, our weather often changes several times during the day and looking outside its a tuff call to try and guess how cold it is currently outside.
Its also nice to check the forecast for the next couple of days, if the ground is clear now and I see snow is on the way 2 days from now, I often will plan ahead that I go food shopping before the snow hits, if I need lots of groceries soon, as its no fun to push a fully laden food buggie through several inches of snow on a parking lot all the way to the car.
Most of us coming from SA is not used to having all the windows and doors closed up for several days, sometimes weeks go by, and we don't get a break from the very cold weather, to get some fresh air into the home. When I see on the weather forecast warmer weather egg 5c or so is coming our way, I always plan to open all windows and doors for an hour or so, once the warmer air hit Calgary and get fresh air into the home.
When you suddenly hear trrrrrrrr (winter is a very quiet time outside, dis rerig grafstil buite, most of the birds migrated before the winter to warmer climates and almost no one is out in the cold ) and you wonder what is that sound, its water running down the eaves troughs from a Chinook wind that blows warm air into Calgary that makes the snow melt so fast on the roof. Then its an excellent time to open all windows and doors and let fresh air in. But sometimes during the middle of winter, we live with this old recycled air for 2 or more weeks, before we get a break to warmer temps for a day or so. I don't believe the recycled old air that we have inside sometime for weeks on end is a healthy thing in the long run, but it seems Canadians are so used to the long winters here and that's the way we live now here.
I have learned here in Calgary to check the weather channel on TV daily ( I think its channel 17 - one channel that for the whole day only broadcasts current weather info for the whole of Canada and every 10 mins your region's forecast will come up)
Two very useful sites to bookmark if you spend a winter here is :
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/c...es/CAAB0049.htm
http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/forecast/city_e.html?yyc
These sites I check early in the morning before the kids go to school to tell them before they head out, how cold it is ( most kids here go to school with busses, either the big yellow school ones or city transit busses) and walking to the busstop and waiting there a few minutes for the bus to arrive can be a way different experience depending on how cold it is going to be on that day.
I also check the current weather conditions online just before I head out the door walking our dog. On really cold days, -5 c and colder, he gets dressed in 2 layers, winter leggings with shoes on made of leather to protect his feet, and then his warm woolly coat over that, dogs like mine with very thin short hair needs winter clothes as well. We do not walk when its colder than - 10c outside. With our long winters, I find that I long to get out of the home and get some exercise, and walking is good as long as its not too icy, then make sure you have good shoes with lots of traction to keep you from sliding on icy patches. Those of us with an eager dog, knows about a dog pulling on his leash and pulling you easily off your feet on the ice :-)
With the warm Chinook winds we often get here and the close proximity to the Rocky mountains, our weather often changes several times during the day and looking outside its a tuff call to try and guess how cold it is currently outside.
Its also nice to check the forecast for the next couple of days, if the ground is clear now and I see snow is on the way 2 days from now, I often will plan ahead that I go food shopping before the snow hits, if I need lots of groceries soon, as its no fun to push a fully laden food buggie through several inches of snow on a parking lot all the way to the car.
Most of us coming from SA is not used to having all the windows and doors closed up for several days, sometimes weeks go by, and we don't get a break from the very cold weather, to get some fresh air into the home. When I see on the weather forecast warmer weather egg 5c or so is coming our way, I always plan to open all windows and doors for an hour or so, once the warmer air hit Calgary and get fresh air into the home.
When you suddenly hear trrrrrrrr (winter is a very quiet time outside, dis rerig grafstil buite, most of the birds migrated before the winter to warmer climates and almost no one is out in the cold ) and you wonder what is that sound, its water running down the eaves troughs from a Chinook wind that blows warm air into Calgary that makes the snow melt so fast on the roof. Then its an excellent time to open all windows and doors and let fresh air in. But sometimes during the middle of winter, we live with this old recycled air for 2 or more weeks, before we get a break to warmer temps for a day or so. I don't believe the recycled old air that we have inside sometime for weeks on end is a healthy thing in the long run, but it seems Canadians are so used to the long winters here and that's the way we live now here.
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