The Canadian Climate / Ecological Thread

[urbanroo]

Originally Posted by rousseau

19 days of cold rain, 3 days of snow. Christ!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver#Climate

Hey, you don't mind it, and that's great. But we can please give this ridiculous, idiotic idea that winter in Vancouver is somehow so wonderfully appealing a rest, please? It's insulting.

To each his own. There are on average 3-4 days more precipitation in Vancouver than in Toronto in January (my numbers are from wikipedia). It's still grey and miserable. I'd much rather deal with rain than snow. Maybe your ideal climate is on the Prairies, where it barely ever rains in January.

[urbanroo]

Originally Posted by Acajack

This is not to slag on Vancouver but it did rain almost every day for two months straight last fall. It wasn't as cool as 5 degrees C on most of those days but generally well below the 20C threshold that makes rainfall more bearable to most people.

I agree it's usually a good Canadian climate for people who absolutely can't stand snow and subzero temperatures and will sacrifice other things to avoid that...

You're right. Of course last year was pretty exceptional. To me the best part about the Ontario/Quebec/Maritimes climate is the fall. It's often crisp and bright and the colors are beautiful. In Vancouver it gets pretty wet by November. In the prairies fall can be nice, but the transitional seasons (both spring and fall) are much shorter.

[north 42]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper

..or maybe the 12 months of the year parts of Quebec gets snow consistently year after year, (..notice at least I didn't exaggerate..) which is probably maybe why Quebec is only province where Winter tires are mandatory by law?
Looks like you have escaped Quebec's 'Brutal' snowy Winters as Nicko seems to put it, Maybe you could help Nicko find a climate that's more to his liking?

Also I wasn't so uncouth enough to post a one off, once in a half century temp & try to pass it off as a regular climate event, I only post climate related info on this thread thankfully. This year's anniversary of snow all across Southern Ontario snow in middle of May last year would be a regular climate event I'd imagine.



Speaking of tradeoffs, something else climate related to this thread no one else has mentioned yet is Southern Ontario that goes from Frost Advisories to Smog Advisories seamlessly year to year. No where else in Canada gets that.

Leamington Ontario, Canada's Most Southern City just this morning..

Correction! Canada's Southern most Town! No frost here by the way, everything is still lush and green like summer!

Also, 0C is much warmer than the -12C that Maple Creek gets in May, lol. You've also been below freezing in every month except July, and even then Maple Creek got down to a frigid 1C! Epic fail!

[lio45]

I've just tried to locate the flora thread I thought I recalled, but did not manage to do that, so I figure this one can serve that purpose as well (hopefully it doesn't get too quickly drowned in the very popular "your hometown's climate is absolutely brutal!" discussions...)

[side note - I came across many old super interesting thread ideas while looking at pages and pages of thread titles... things such as rousseau's "your house when you were 5", or other way more interesting and serious / political/cultural reflexions, etc. There's a side of this forum that is really high-quality, IMO.]

Anyway, on to trees, in case anyone can help: (lifted from other thread; if no one knows anything, I'll attempt one of these identification sites that work in successive questions and yes-no forks, maybe I'll end up with something. Given that there are parts of BC that are zone 9, there's a chance this sort of leafy evergreen might actually have relatives suited to Canada.)

Well, for now then I'll just post this here and see if anyone can answer me. I'm trying to identify this tree, I'm about to cut it but as a rule I never cut anything unless I have identified it. It's interfering with one of my orange trees, but I could tolerate it (and start to prune/care) if it turns out to be an interesting, rare, or otherwise desirable tree. I've tried to include good pics of the foliage, bark and fruit. I figure maybe there's one of us tree experts who will be able to tell me what it is (I haven't even started looking yet - this thread is my first stop).

P1070879

P1070880

P1070883

P1070884

[kwoldtimer]

I thought the answer you received in the other thread, suggesting that it might be a type of fig, was a reasonable guess. Why don't you snip of a branch (with flowers/fruit, if possible) and just take it in to a gardening centre? Unless it's something rare, they'll probably have the answer for you.

[Metro-One]

Looks like a fig tree to me as well. The leaves are very similar to the ones my father grew when I was a child.

[north 42]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Looks like a fig tree to me as well. The leaves are very similar to the ones my father grew when I was a child.

Yes, it kind of looks a Fiddle Leaf Fig, but with a slightly different leaf shape.

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by north 42

Yes, it kind of looks a Fiddle Leaf Fig, but with a slightly different leaf shape.

Have you tried cutting open any of the fruit? I would think that they would looks similar to other variety of figs if it is indeed a fig tree.

I would like to see more about flora and fauna on this thread as well, and also more positive posts about what people life, instead of what they don't, haha.

It is no secret that Canada on average has a pretty rough climate, but I do feel that there are a few select areas where the positives do outweigh the negatives (or trade offs). Of course this is very subjective, because there are people (such as my parents who live in the Cariboo) who believe that a solidly frozen, long, cold winter is a good climate.

For myself I think that the South Okanagan is a region where the positives out weigh the negatives. I have always though that Peachland's weather stats are actually pretty good. It has a nice early / mild spring, a warm summer (though with cooler highs than most of the Okanagan, but with decent lows), little precipitation throughout the year, and winter itself is pretty short and relatively moderate.


Peachland Weather by Ian, on Flickr


And then there is the Victoria region, another spot where I believe the positives outweigh the trade offs. Milder winters than Vancouver, with half the precipitation and a decent amount of sunshine. The University of Victoria is especially situated in a nice spot:


UVIC Weather by Ian, on Flickr


The other region in Canada I would add to this list are the mildest spots in Southern Ontario that are not located in a snow belt.

Not expecting everyone to agree with this, but for me Victoria and the South Okanagan do have decent climates. Both of them considerably better than Vancouver"s (especially near the mountains) IMO.

I hope to talk more about some of my favorite plants and animals when I have more time. So what is you favorite / ideal weather station / location in Canada?

[SaskScraper]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

...The other region in Canada I would add to this list are the mildest spots in Southern Ontario that are not located in a snow belt.

Not expecting everyone to agree with this, but for me Victoria and the South Okanagan do have decent climates. Both of them considerably better than Vancouver"s (especially near the mountains) IMO.

I hope to talk more about some of my favorite plants and animals when I have more time. So what is you favorite / ideal weather station / location in Canada?

Everywhere in Ontario gets well over a 100cm of snow each & every year, where's not a snow belt in Ontario in comparison to BC lower elevations?

I like weather stations in the Southern Prairies, they show a dynamic sunny climate with clean fresh air & with a lot of species of plants & animals same to southern interior of BC, such as rattlesnakes, black widow spiders & cougars etc.
South Western corner of Saskatchewan is closer to Arizona than it is to the diagonal opposite corner of the province so we get a lot of plant & animal species associated across Western USA.

Southern Prairies & BC share some species not found anywhere else in Canada like scorpions and western hog nosed snakes, western painted turtles, Long-eared myotis & Western small footed bats, Northern Pygmy Owls etc etc etc.
For plant species Prickly pear cactus, Sage brush, trees like Lodgepole Pine plus other tree species found throughout like Cottonwood, bur oak, American elm, Manitoba Maple, plus Ponderosa Pine goes well here too.

[urbanroo]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

I thought the answer you received in the other thread, suggesting that it might be a type of fig, was a reasonable guess. Why don't you snip of a branch (with flowers/fruit, if possible) and just take it in to a gardening centre? Unless it's something rare, they'll probably have the answer for you.

I'm no expert but the leaves don't look like the typical fig: https://www.google.com/search?q=fig+...w=1217&bih=726

[urbanroo]

Not expecting everyone to agree with this, but for me Victoria and the South Okanagan do have decent climates. Both of them considerably better than Vancouver"s (especially near the mountains) IMO.

Agreed. I think Victoria and the south Okanagan have everywhere else in Canada beat. Take a place like Penticton: January high of 2, low of -3, it snows in the winter, but not too much, and the surrounding mountains are great for skiing. It's on a lake that rarely ever freezes. March is full blown spring, and the summers are hot and sunny, but not humid and the overnight lows make sleeping comfortable. This is a good climate even by non-Canadian standards. Of course, even Penticton has, on extreme occasions, seen freezing temperatures in all but two months (July and August) for those who seem to like to fixate on such events.

[DrJoe]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper

Everywhere in Ontario gets well over a 100cm of snow each & every year, where's not a snow belt in Ontario in comparison to BC lower elevations?

I like weather stations in the Southern Prairies, they show a dynamic sunny climate with clean fresh air & with a lot of species of plants & animals same to southern interior of BC, such as rattlesnakes, black widow spiders & cougars etc.
South Western corner of Saskatchewan is closer to Arizona than it is to the diagonal opposite corner of the province so we get a lot of plant & animal species associated across Western USA.

Southern Prairies & BC share some species not found anywhere else in Canada like scorpions and western hog nosed snakes, western painted turtles, Long-eared myotis & Western small footed bats, Northern Pygmy Owls etc etc etc.
For plant species Prickly pear cactus, Sage brush, trees like Lodgepole Pine plus other tree species found throughout like Cottonwood, bur oak, American elm, Manitoba Maple, plus Ponderosa Pine goes well here too.

So to summarize...you like your own weather station, lol.

[Nicko999]

Originally Posted by rousseau

I think declaring that the smog in Toronto is so singularly terrible on (presumably) a global scale, that it's worse than so many "other cities" including Los Angeles and New York, makes it seem more likely than not that you're actually a farmer who's never travelled farther than Moose Jaw.

You're only realizing that now?

I want to SaskScraper to explain me ONE thing: If Southern Ontario/Quebec climate is so bad why are they warmer than Maple Crap OVER A FULL YEAR! And I want official numbers to back it up, not random suppositions.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

I thought the answer you received in the other thread, suggesting that it might be a type of fig, was a reasonable guess.

It was certainly a reasonable guess, but the leaf shape is entirely different from all the fig trees I've seen... that's why I don't consider the quest over yet I'm not saying you guys (mcminsen will be the one getting the credit) aren't right, though.

Based on the leaves and bark and general shape, I had assumed for the past two years it was just a normal live oak. I've only examined it closely for the first time recently.

[geotag277]

If everyone would please stop responding to Nicko999, DrJoe, and SaskScraper, that would be great. These individuals cannot seem to contribute anything above mercury jockeying cesspool commentary to these types of threads.

If they had it their way, this would be a 1000 post nightmare thread above how "my dad is warmer than your dad" juvenile debauchery.

Metro One, urbanroo and lio lately have all been making actual contributions to the thread with actual effort. Let's try to engage them more and leave the kindergarten crew behind.

[geotag277]

Originally Posted by shreddog

[ANECDOTE]
I moved to Vancouver 8 months ago and have been riding my bike to work pretty much every day. 10kms each way, almost 80 metre vertical difference.

Over the years I have rode my bike to work in Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto (and a couple cities outside of North America). Calgary was the only other Canadian city where I was able to ride all year in that they plow the trails there quite well and the winter days are "crisp and clear" with very little frozen boiler plate. I always had issues with Toronto and Ottawa primarily due to slush (frozen and otherwise) and the "cold" weather. (note, I didn't say colder than Calgary, but the cold there did seem to play more havoc on the trails and roads.).

As for Vancouver "dreariness" in winter?? Well all I can say is that I didn't find this winter that bad - though many locals did complain. A few things I did notice were that few days were grey all day (unless if it was snowing which is nice in itself) and most afternoons were met with sunny breaks (regardless of how the day started.) Of course this is helped by my office having large west facing windows and being above the trees. And then there is the green. Since there is so much green in Vancouver during the winter which really helps address grey skies.

As for summers - personally I don't find any place in Canada gets hot enough for me (I've lived in the ME and Phoenix) so it's pretty much a wash there. (FWIW, all my years living in TO I never had AC and never had issues).

Anyway, Vancouver is a nice place, as is Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and even Maple Creek (though I have only stopped there while driving through), however on the international stage, homers claiming that anywhere in Canada has "great" weather is really like arguing who is the skinniest kid at fat camp.

And on that note, we can resume to arguing while a 0.5 degree annual difference makes city A so much better than city B!

[/ANECDOTE]

If this is your first winter season there, "not that bad" might just be a bit of your honeymoon period there. It took me about 5 years to realize that I didn't want to spend another winter there, and in the process it completely reduced my tolerance for expanded periods of cold rain and grey to almost zero.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper

Southern Prairies & BC share some species not found anywhere else in Canada like scorpions and western hog nosed snakes, western painted turtles, Long-eared myotis & Western small footed bats, Northern Pygmy Owls etc etc etc.

Western hog nosed snakes, Western painted turtles, Western small footed bats, aren't found anywhere else in Canada except in the Prairies and BC. Wow, what a revelation.

FYI, we have snakes and turtles and bats in the East too... species that I'm sure you guys don't have. Surprised to hear that?

For plant species Prickly pear cactus, Sage brush, trees like Lodgepole Pine plus other tree species found throughout like Cottonwood, bur oak, American elm, Manitoba Maple, plus Ponderosa Pine goes well here too.

American Elm?!? The only reason you guys still have some is precisely that you're actually OUTSIDE its (very large) native range.

And please tell me you're joking when you say Manitoba Maple is something rare and exclusive to you - that shit is the weediest weed ever. Just ask any Easterner who owns land and/or does gardening and cares for trees. From an Eastern Canada POV I don't think I can manage to name any plant more aggressively invasive and undesirable.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by geotag277

If everyone would please stop responding to Nicko999, DrJoe, and SaskScraper, that would be great. These individuals cannot seem to contribute anything above mercury jockeying cesspool commentary to these types of threads.

If they had it their way, this would be a 1000 post nightmare thread above how "my dad is warmer than your dad" juvenile debauchery.

I just disobeyed you, BUT in my defense I was steering the conversation to flora and fauna while managing to avoid pointing out how brutal Maple Creek winters are.

[shreddog]

Originally Posted by geotag277

If this is your first winter season there, "not that bad" might just be a bit of your honeymoon period there...

First winter "this time" - been here before. Now that said, FTR one of the reasons I left Ontario for Calgary was i couldn't stand the dreary winters in Ottawa and Toronto (my opinion only!). All the other places I have lived (except England) were more sunny that Calgary and thus I never thought I could do a grey winter again.

I purposely "tried to be depressed" in Vancouver since it "rained" so often since October, but like I said, the fact that it wasn't all day long, there were sunny breaks and green everywhere really softened the lack of all day sun in Calgary.

Or maybe i was just having so much fun watching locals deal with snow that it made the grey invisible

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

I hope to talk more about some of my favorite plants and animals when I have more time. So what is you favorite / ideal weather station / location in Canada?

Probably Osoyoos for me; the downsides for it would be the isolation (that one is obviously non climatic) and the fact that the dry weather might not be ideal for growing many things - the landscape will look pretty barren.

However, I would probably miss the four distinct seasons of home, at some point. When you're used to something...