The Canadian Climate / Ecological Thread

[Mister F]

Originally Posted by Nicko999

Canada is unique in regards to crappy weather.

Not really. Most of Russia isn't Sochi. And the Nordic countries are no picnic.

Originally Posted by shreddog

So I guess Vancouver is the "warmest" city in Canada?

Yup, unless of course you start counting smaller cities like Victoria and Windsor. Daily means of 11.2 and 10.7 respectively.

[HillStreetBlues]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

...I personally would prefer to get the cloudy dreary weather out of the way during the winter when the temps are low anyway, and have sunnier summers, but the lack of sun in the winters can be trying.

I love those sunny winter days. They're typically even colder without cloud cover to trap what little warmth there is, but it's wonderful when it's cold (doesn't matter how cold, a high of -15 is fine) but bright and sunny and no wind.

MisterF, Re: Finland. Helsinki's winter temperatures are more tolerable than London's or KW's. But it does get dark. Even in February, many days are above freezing, which means snow accumulation is light (but which also means it can feel damp).

There are relatively few unpleasantly hot days in summer in Helsinki. That's the real pain of living in southern Ontario, to my mind (I don't know too much about other parts of the country): February can be unpleasantly cold, and it's sometimes only a four-month wait until people start complaining about the heat...

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by Mister F

Not really. Most of Russia isn't Sochi. And the Nordic countries are no picnic.


Yup, unless of course you start counting smaller cities like Victoria and Windsor. Daily means of 11.2 and 10.7 respectively.

Osoyoos as well, 10.7 and 10.4 for their two weather stations.

Agassiz in the Fraser Valley and Tswassen are also 11.1 each.

It comes as no surprise that these 3 small regions are the only ones that start to enter mildish annual temps in Canada.

[SaskScraper]

Originally Posted by shreddog

So I guess Vancouver is the "warmest" city in Canada?

oh and look..
St. John's Newfoundland has same temp over the course of 12 months as Toronto! that must mean they have the exact same nice weather.

Toronto has say.. North Atlantic Temperate climate shall we

I guess this wraps up the everything we need to know about Toronto weather

[Xelebes]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper

oh and look..
St. John's Newfoundland has same temp over the course of 12 months as Toronto! that must mean they have the exact same nice weather.

Toronto has say.. North Atlantic Temperate climate shall we

I guess this wraps up the everything we need to know about Toronto weather

I wonder how you interpreted that sentence. Because I believe shreddog was being facetious, given the complaints he was responding to. And he was being facetious in a satirical manner too. And you, from what I read of your post, took umbrage to it.

Huh.

[DrJoe]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper

oh and look..
St. John's Newfoundland has same temp over the course of 12 months as Toronto! that must mean they have the exact same nice weather.

Toronto has say.. North Atlantic Temperate climate shall we

I guess this wraps up the everything we need to know about Toronto weather

Uhhhhhhh? Let's add St. John's...

Vancouver: 10.4 C
Toronto: 9.4 C
Halifax: 7.5 C
Montreal: 7.4 C
Maple Creek: 5.8 C
St. John's 5.0 C
Calgary: 4.4 C
Winnipeg: 3.0 C

[SaskScraper]

Originally Posted by Xelebes

I wonder how you interpreted that sentence. Because I believe shreddog was being facetious, given the complaints he was responding to. And he was being facetious in a satirical manner too. And you, from what I read of your post, took umbrage to it.

Huh.

Is this how one moderates on SSP?
an least I don't use the BS word & allowed to get away with it

..actually me & shreddog saw the exact same observation & I was just putting it into perspective for everyone to judge for themselves..

move on!!

[DrJoe]

Originally Posted by HillStreetBlues

I love those sunny winter days. They're typically even colder without cloud cover to trap what little warmth there is, but it's wonderful when it's cold (doesn't matter how cold, a high of -15 is fine) but bright and sunny and no wind.

MisterF, Re: Finland. Helsinki's winter temperatures are more tolerable than London's or KW's. But it does get dark. Even in February, many days are above freezing, which means snow accumulation is light (but which also means it can feel damp).

There are relatively few unpleasantly hot days in summer in Helsinki. That's the real pain of living in southern Ontario, to my mind (I don't know too much about other parts of the country): February can be unpleasantly cold, and it's sometimes only a four-month wait until people start complaining about the heat...

Hot humid days also mean those sweet sweet hot summer nights though. Toronto's average lows are in the high teens during the Summer, couple that with humidity and you can go shorts and a t-shirt at all hours of the day for 2+ months straight. A true summer reprieve.

[geotag277]

There is nothing more absurd than attempting to distil an entire year's worth of weather and how one would experience it then to abstract it down to a single number and say "here, this is how the weather is in St Johns Newfoudland. 5 degrees".

This is quickly becoming the Great Canadian Mercury Jockeying Thread From Individuals Who Use Skewed Statistics To Make A Superfluous Point thread. At least call a spade a spade.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by DrJoe

Hot humid days also mean those sweet sweet hot summer nights though. Toronto's average lows are in the high teens during the Summer, couple that with humidity and you can go shorts and a t-shirt at all hours of the day for 2+ months straight. A true summer reprieve.

Yeah, but if you don't have air conditioning, as I didn't for six years in Toronto, you barely sleep from June to August. The last place I lived, in Little Italy, I don't think the temperature in the apartment went below 25 degrees between early June and early September.

I do miss how those warm evenings persist well into autumn, but I also really like being able to open my bedroom window to cool off in July after a hot summer's day.

[DrJoe]

Originally Posted by geotag277

There is nothing more absurd than attempting to distil an entire year's worth of weather and how one would experience it then to abstract it down to a single number and say "here, this is how the weather is in St Johns Newfoudland. 5 degrees".

This is quickly becoming the Great Canadian Mercury Jockeying Thread From Individuals Who Use Skewed Statistics To Make A Superfluous Point thread. At least call a spade a spade.

Who's trying to do that? It's a simple comparison and highly valuable since pretty much all of our cities experience similar weather (4 distinct seasons).

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Yeah, but if you don't have air conditioning, as I didn't for six years in Toronto, you barely sleep from June to August. The last place I lived, in Little Italy, I don't think the temperature in the apartment went below 25 degrees between early June and early September.

Also, when you're just trying to do your day-to-day stuff during the day the heat isn't always great. Rush hour commutes on the subway in June-August heat are not fun. It is particularly gross when you start your day in the morning and it's already too warm. I find low 20's summer temperatures a lot more comfortable for everything but sitting around.

AC lets you escape the heat but it's similar to heating in the winter. I'd rather have all of the windows open and get fresh air.

[DrJoe]

Yeah but what you are describing as ideal is spring and fall. Warm during the day and cool at night. Summer might as well be hot the whole time.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Toronto is actually much gloomier than it's reputation. I was shocked on moving here how often it is grey and overcast when everyone mocked me for being from dreary Vancouver.

To put it into numbers Toronto gets 2,066 sunshine hours a year whereas Vancouver gets 1,937 sunshine hours per year.

That would mean that Vancouver as 94% as sunny as Toronto, not really that big a difference.

Only major difference i suppose would be that Vancouver has most of those dreary days during the winter whereas Toronto's are a bit more evenly spread. I personally would prefer to get the cloudy dreary weather out of the way during the winter when the temps are low anyway, and have sunnier summers, but the lack of sun in the winters can be trying.

When Rousseau has spent time actually living year-round in both climates I'll perhaps be more forgiving of his hyperbole.

Vancouver is my preference, but it isn't perfect. I also love TO and MTL in spite of their own imperfections.

We all excel in certain ways.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by DrJoe

Yeah but what you are describing as ideal is spring and fall. Warm during the day and cool at night. Summer might as well be hot the whole time.

That's your preference but not universal. I'd rather have low energy bills.

In Vancouver I don't regret not having air conditioning other than a couple of days per year. I remember summers in TO and MTLl dying without it. I remember walking to work during the day feeling like I was going to pass out from the humidity. If you are acclimated to that and prefer it, cool, but that preference is not universal..

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

I made this thread years ago and feel I have matured a little since then, but I just want to clarify the statement that it is not always wet on the West Coast.

Of course it rains a lot, and the winter has a lot of drizzle, but it really does feel that many believe that the weather is monotonous throughout the year. It is not, there is a clear dry season.

Also, the point was more that the west coast itself is not monotonous. Victoria especially is sunnier and drier than many would imagine east of the Rockies. Receiving less rainfall and more sunshine hours than Toronto and Montreal.

It is true that just about every region in Canada gets painted with an exceedingly broad brush by people outside of it. BC has a lot of diversity so the oversimplified view that it rains all the time here is particularly wrong.

I will also say that people in BC are the worst when it comes to having misconceptions about other parts of Canada though. Most people who were born and raised here seem to think that the rest of the country has brutally cold winters (and often hot summers, tons of bugs, etc.). In reality the differences aren't really that large. Lots of places are nice for 6 or 7 months of the year. And the fact is that having some snow is not the end of the world if you are prepared for it.

I still think NS is the most misrepresented provinces for weather, having spent a bunch of time in every region and having lived in 3 of them. Probably this is because most people have no idea that Atlantic Canada is a big place with a lot of variety. Maritimers also tend to be negative and tend to exaggerate, whereas most Canadians are upbeat cheerleaders in comparison.

[SaskScraper]

Originally Posted by Nicko999

Avg lows below freezing for 7 months in the year. That's incomprehensible to me.
I don't care that the temperature climbed to +0.3C at 3:03PM on that day when it's brutally cold for more than 70% of the time (and nights in the Prairies are longer than in Eastern Canada).
Love it when people from the Prairies ignore avg lows when in fact they are a better indication of how cold it is during the long winter nights.

there there, I know it must have been another tough winter again in Quebec but if you don't like the 10 feet of snow your province gets every year you should just move elsewhere
I was going to say that all your snow shovelling is over for this season for you but I may have spoke too soon

https://www.mtlblog.com/news/well-lo...montreal-today

[north 42]

Originally Posted by Nicko999

Avg lows below freezing for 7 months in the year. That's incomprehensible to me.
I don't care that the temperature climbed to +0.3C at 3:03PM on that day when it's brutally cold for more than 70% of the time (and nights in the Prairies are longer than in Eastern Canada).
Love it when people from the Prairies ignore avg lows when in fact they are a better indication of how cold it is during the long winter nights.

Especially the -38.4C it got down to in February in Maple Crap. Lol

[DrJoe]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

That's your preference but not universal. I'd rather have low energy bills.

In Vancouver I don't regret not having air conditioning other than a couple of days per year. I remember summers in TO and MTLl dying without it. I remember walking to work during the day feeling like I was going to pass out from the humidity. If you are acclimated to that and prefer it, cool, but that preference is not universal..

I don't deny that it is a personal preference but my point was simply Toronto still experiences what you consider an ideal summer, it happens later, in late summer and early fall when the Prairies are entering into cold conditions. Vancouver is a little more tricky.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by north 42

Especially the -38.4C it got down to in February in Maple Crap. Lol

-38.4!!!! You probably need a special brand of winter tires when it gets that cold.