Well, I have lived here for a long time and I figure we have it pretty good.
We get hot weather (most summers) interspersed with wicked thunderstorms.
The winters are interrupted frequently by chinooks and we never get the sustained extreme weather that the rest of the prairies get.
The only real better option in Canada than Calgary is the west coast and that's where the evil Canucks reside. Can't move there.
I think I'd kill myself in Winterpeg. I must have seasonal affective disorder or something, both the lack of light and the cold combine to make me strongly want to hibernate all winter.
I've spent probably 2/3 of the last 5 years out on the coast and I loved it. Although other factors could be that I wear contacts and the dryness here really gets to me. But I love the lush flora out there, and the crazy landscaping that people have. Last summer in Vancouver I barely remember any rain and there was a heat wave, although that might not be typical for Vancouver summers.
From what I've heard the best weather in Canada might be on Vancouver Island.
I guess thinking back this summer hasn't been too bad really. But it will be too short. In my experience in Vancouver September is another month of summer, whereas here it is already getting quite cold at nights and in the mornings.
What I really need to do is get into the situation where I can spend the winters is another part of the world
We got a pretty crazy hail storm in St. Albert about an hour ago. It smashed the glass top on our patio table. I'll try and snap a few pics tomorrow when it's nicer out.
I was walking home and I got hit with hail, nothing big that made me stop, pea sized at most.
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Last night the weather network said there was a 100% chance of thunderstorms tonight. This has definitely been the wackiest year for weather. I've been wondering if we'll ever get a week-long stretch of dry, hot weather to at least pretend in my mind that we've had a summer worth remembering.
Last night the weather network said there was a 100% chance of thunderstorms tonight. This has definitely been the wackiest year for weather. I've been wondering if we'll ever get a week-long stretch of dry, hot weather to at least pretend in my mind that we've had a summer worth remembering.
I wouldn't say it was "wacky". Wacky I can deal with, this garbage, I cannot. It has been consistently terrible since April.
2 days of okay weather followed by 5 days of cloudy and/or thunderstorms. Rinse. Repeat
2 days of okay weather followed by 5 days of cloudy and/or thunderstorms. Rinse. Repeat
Fair enough, my definition of wacky is "not normal for Calgary". I would call what you said there wacky for a Calgary summer. I'm used to us getting thunderstorms on a regular basis, but we can't get any consistent weather here this year, and nothing even over 25 it seems.
I heard an asshat on the news this morning say "More hot weather creates more evaporation which brings more rain and storms".
That might make sense in Pakistan, china or even Eastern NA, But it makes no sense regarding Calgary....... We haven't recorded 30 degrees at any Calgary weather stations since September 24 2009!
According to Environment Canada's Historical Data, We've had 12 days that were 25 degrees or higher ---June 1st thru Aug. 4th.
So, 18% of summer 2010 has had "summer" weather.
How does that compare with "normal" values? I heard one of the weather guys (can't remember which one) say a couple of weeks ago that we are pretty much at normal values for summer.
Edit: Not saying that it has been a summer to remember, but it doesn't seem that bad... a 25 degree day with a thunderstorm in the evening is still a pretty good day in my books, and is pretty much bang on with what normally happens here.
I heard an asshat on the news this morning say "More hot weather creates more evaporation which brings more rain and storms".
That might make sense in Pakistan, china or even Eastern NA, But it makes no sense regarding Calgary....... We haven't recorded 30 degrees at any Calgary weather stations since September 24 2009!
I don't know about the asshat, but I don't think it's about evaporation. It's about systems, and if a low pressure system can stay relatively suspended over Pakistan bringing rain and a high pressure system over Russia bringing heat, I would imagine the same could occur in North America. Maybe there has been an extended low pressure system over Alberta this year? Further north, so you don't get the high temperatures but you still get the storms.
I don't know about the asshat, but I don't think it's about evaporation. It's about systems, and if a low pressure system can stay relatively suspended over Pakistan bringing rain and a high pressure system over Russia bringing heat, I would imagine the same could occur in North America. Maybe there has been an extended low pressure system over Alberta this year? Further north, so you don't get the high temperatures but you still get the storms.
Exactly, Calgary usually sees thunderstorms in the summer when we've had a decently hot day. The problem is we've had consistent systems rolling over us that bring the precipitation without the heat. Last week we even had a thunderstorm on day that was no more than 18 degrees. Hows that for fun?
They should make a Tropicana commercial for us like the one up in Inuvik. They have no sunlight for 31 days, we have 31 straight days of severe thunderstorm watches and half assed temperatures.
