January in the Park

Come hell or high water (or deep snow), this kid is gonna get to the slides one way or another.

When Salt Loses Its Savour

Great. That's all we need is for the salt to stop working. You wouldn't believe how our civilization here in Canada depends on it. (I'm speaking now to my Californians.)

Police are warning motorists to drive cautiously during this cold snap, saying road salt loses its ability to melt the ice when temperatures gets low enough. [Around -10C. As I write this it is -19C.]

Massive Power Outage!

We survived, but it was so COLD in the house! The only good place was in bed with all three of us huddled together. Brrrrr.

Canadian Press: TORONTO — Toronto has opened seven city-run facilities to help people keep warm until a major power outage that hit the city overnight is repaired.

About 22,000 Toronto Hydro customers lost electricity when a broken water main flooded a power station at about 10 p.m. Thursday night.

The power went off in sub-zero temperatures in a mostly residential area just west and north of the downtown core.

Toronto Mayor David Miller could not say when power would be restored. Toronto Hydro earlier said it would take 18-to-24 hours.

Miller asked residents in the affected area to check on their neighbours, particularly seniors, and help them get to a warm place. He also urged homeowners to prevent pipes from freezing by running the tap at the lowest point in the residence.

The outage forced a closure of some east-west subway stations in the affected area (from the Keele to Bathurst stations). A fleet of shuttle buses was being employed to carry passengers through the morning rush.

Al Rescate!

At -30 it's so cold it burns your skin, which makes you think it is actually pretty warm outside. At least I do anyway. (Ok, send in the St. Bernards, I've had enough cold snow ice.)

Yup, It's snow.

Amado applies the taste test.

Snow Day

...and though it's -25 C, Amadisto's out practicing his snowboard posturing.

SUNDAY SNOW UPDATE

NOTHING YET. In fact, the past two days have felt semi-positively spring-like. I think the temperature almost made it out of the 30sF for the first time since late November! Now it's getting cold again. I've got the thermometer in the right column, so you can check it when you want.

Snow Record in Sight

Toronto only needs 20 cm (7.8") more to break the record snowfall of 207 cm (6' 7") for a season, set in 1938/39. There is more snow predicted for Thursday, a couple days next week, and a couple more times later in March... C'MON, WE CAN DO IT! We've had 187 cm (6' 1") so far.

UPDATE: The snow forcast for Thursday only turned out to be a dusting. So we're still waiting.

SUNDAY UPDATE: Nothing yet. In fact, the past two days have felt semi-positively spring-like. I think the temperature almost made it out of the 30sF for the first time since late November!

Snow Removal

I believe the sign says, "Snow Removal Within Next 50 Years." It's referring to the built up of snow piled in the right lanes of the all the streets, making two-way traffic and parking ridiculous in many neighourhoods. However, as you can see, they have nicely plowed this street (next to the subway station), clearing it of the foot of new snow we received since Friday night. How long can this go on??

Cold Weather Update

Frozen hair isn't that bad. Mine froze this morning while walking to the bus stop from my mechanic's place. It was crispy. It's been so cold here the last couple of days (currently it is -11F). Tonight even the temperature sign at the local mortuary was frozen solid. The city has been hauling away the snow in trucks, because there is no way it will melt at these temperatures and we have run out of places to put it all. This morning, after dropping Amado off, Wendy and I nearly slid into four lanes of rush hour traffic from a side street, where there is still a lot of ice and snow. Snow's ok, but I'm getting tired of it being really, really, really cold. It makes a little hard to go outside.

(Picture above from the folks at http://the.earth.li/~alex/halley/2007_06_03.html, who appear to be stranded in Antarctica and experiencing a bit of cabin fever.)

It's Not Just Brutally Cold

I bet you're thinking that all Canadians talk about in the winter is the extreme cold. But it really is remarkable. I'm in Winnipeg where it's about -30C without the wind chill. I heard somebody on the plane call this "crunchy breath" weather, and I knew exactly what they were talking about. But it isn't simply brutally cold. A Sikh taxi driver today explained to me that there are some of the subtle distinctions in cold weather:

1) Yes, it's -30C today in Winnipeg, but it's a "warm cold," my taxi driver told me. Compared to Toronto where it's -10C, but with lots of humidity, Winnipeg is very dry so the cold here is warmer than the cold in Toronto, he said. [Ed. note - After walking a couple of blocks this afternoon, I'm going to have to disagree. It's MUCH colder in Winnipeg than Toronto.]

2) Winnipeg has gotten a couple "big dumps" of snow this winter. But they've been dumps of "warm snow," from the south. The taxi driver said that when the city gets the warm snow dumps from the south his tulips will bloom in mid-March. When the snow dumps come from the north--"cold dumps"--his tulips don't bloom until the end of May.

3) It's -30C now and that's unseasonable, but later this week it's going back up to -12C and that will be "really comfortable," according to my taxi driver. "Just wait," he said. "You'll see."

100-Car Pile Up

Wendy's parents narrowly missed becoming the 101st car in this mess on Highway 400 in Ontario. Thankfully they missed it--though they had to spent almost seven hours stranded on the highway in -20C temps. Lessons learned: 1) Don't drive fast in whiteout conditions. You would be surprised how many people ignore this rule. 2) Remember to pee before you leave the house.