What happened to our W*I*N*T*E*R Canada???

Also you have to have a space on either side of the link for it to work.

no space......http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/567542/.......
with space..... http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/571375/ .....

This message was edited Feb 4, 2006 12:21 PM

Hi everyone - enjoy reading about the crazy winter we are all appearing to have throughtout Canada.
Here in Southern Quebec we're getting the same strange but WONDERFUL mild weather. Today it is raining cats & dogs. What little snow is on the ground is melting.
Jan. proved to be a month with numerous record-breaking temps (we actually hit +12 a few times. Feb. has started mild too. I don't mind these winters except when we get the freezing rain - makes for difficult driving but other than that I wouldn't trade the snow for anything.
Drove to Montreal yesterday and noticed (intake of air to reflect awe...) that the weeping willows are already covered in that reddish-orangy tint that can only mean = buds...Quite unusual. I truely believe that global warming is changing our climates. Heh I don't complain for now as it might mean that our lilac trees will finally bloom for Mother's Day rather than in June...

Pam
Just read your" Edmonton snow depth" request and it is at O. We don't have any snow and I would love some to shovel onto my plants! It's so dry here the city tree expert is talking about loosing thousands of old trees due to drought.
Each time I change out my fish tank I'm carting the water out side and puting it on my shrubbs and at the driplinesof my bigger trees, including the city ones. It's not much but I hope it helps.
By the way our bunny's stand out like crazy they are all white and there isn't any snow!.
Cheers

Welcome to Dave's and the Canadian Gardening forum flowerpower! Ü It's nice to have more members from Quebec check in. I really hope you have a digital to show us some pics of both your yard and some of the locations (ie buildings, scenic areas) in Quebec! I'm also afraid that this year is just a foreshadowing of what a normal winter here might be like in the not so distant future.

Ann I can imagine how sick you feel (& how exposed those poor bunnies are)......we still have some snow and I'm worrying. Our new neighbors just arrived from Quebec and the house they bought has the melt water come down the downspouts and through poor drainage it ends up on their driveway (she's pregnant and the driveway is a skating rink). We were more than happy to offer to have it redirected into our yard (near the trees).

This message was edited Feb 3, 2006 10:30 PM

Just realized I haven't bugged peeps from Alberta, Ontario and the Maritime provinces to brush off their digitals and start showing us the beauty of their cities/locations as well! :) It's still a ways til spring! ;)

This message was edited Feb 3, 2006 10:40 PM

Here's my view each year we have this type of winter I'm going to buy up one zone in all my new plantings. Global warming will be great when my japanese maples are surviving the winters and then the summers will be my only challenge. Then if winter ever comes just think of all the planting space I'll have the next year. I will just think then, that those perineals were just expensive annuals. I miss the winter!!!!!

Soferdig you really are going to have to post more pictures here of your gorgeous scenery! I also want to visit your glacier again.......last I read they are giving it 20-30 more years before it melts totally away. :(

Oh dear. I'm sorry Pam, but I must have been a bad girl or something. All the snow is indeed landing here instead of with you like I asked! Looking out my window right now it looks like any other February in mid-western Ontario :-(

Here's what it looks like today....

And here's another looking down the street in the opposite direction....

Not necessarily so, Ginny your praying just *might* do it......Moose Jaw is *supposed* to get 1-3cm tonight. Not the amount your getting but I'll share it with the country-side. I thought I heard Edmonton was supposed to get some but it's not showing on the weathernetwork's forecast. Fancy is still in need too.

Since a La Nina has formed it will be interesting to see the effects she'll have on us:
http://www.ocgy.ubc.ca/projects/clim.pred/enso.canada.html
http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/cd/brochures/lanina_e.cfm
http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/education/lanina/canadian/region/index_mean_e.cfm?region=prairies

1995-96 La Niña

* February 1996 was particularly cold in southern prairies. For southern Manitoba the low temperatures were simply a continuation of frigid weather that had predominated since the beginning of the year. The temperatures were nearly 11°C below normal for the November to March period in Winnipeg - the second coldest on record. As well, a daytime high reading of -18°C on the 4th marked the first time since January 17th that a value higher than -20°C had been reached. Winnipeg also broke a record set in 1875, as the overnight low plummeted below -30°C for the 19th day in a row.
* The long-lived cold also affected Calgary. Residents were told to turn on their taps around the clock after weeks of below-normal temperatures resulted in a rash of frozen pipes.
* Wintry weather continued into March 1996. Southern Manitoba experienced a 30 cm snow fall. After a winter with above normal precipitation totals, and very few thaws, snow depths were pushed well above 50 cm, and concerns about spring time flooding were increased.
* Winter's relentless onslaught continued into April 1996. Another snow storm lashed southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba as 20 to 60 cm of snow fell. Shortly afterwards, spring thaw created flooding problems. In Manitoba, several cottages on lake Winnipeg were crushed by huge blocks of ice. North of Winnipeg, several hundred people were evacuated as the Red River overflowed its banks. For the first time since 1959, the Manitoba provincial government had to declare a flood-related disaster area.
* An early December (1995) blizzard, accompanied by -40°C temperatures and winds of 80 km/h, persisted for several days. Dangerously cold wind chill values and near-zero visibility brought most of the area to a standstill.

1988-89 La Niña

* After a few winters of a meager snowfall and summer droughts, ample snowfall arrived over the southern prairies in December 1988. After suffering from the worst drought since the 1930s, the agricultural communities hailed the arrival of this winter snowfall.
* During January 1989, major winter storms dumped from 30 to 50 cm of snow in southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan, adding to the already well established snow base. On the last two days of January 1989, an Arctic air mass swept southward from the northwest and produced blizzards in Alberta. At Lethbridge, the temperatures dropped by 21°C in an hour, and Edmonton received its record one-day January snowfall of 33 cm.

Unfortunately wheat harvest tends to be very poor after a La Nina. Could be a case again of be careful what you wish for. ;S

Oh Eastern Canada..................... Thundershowers, 30cm of snow (in some areas) .........how are you all doing now?

ginnylynn thank you for the beautiful snow covered trees. We have had 10 or so of these beautiful mornings but it all dissapears when the sun comes up. Ahhhh I remember the wonderful winter of 96-97. Kalispell had record snowfall of over 30 ft. (over 10 M)for the whole winter but none of it melted and by spring there was snow pack in the fields over 2 meters deep. In the spring our ground water overflowed and lakes were everywhere. I loved it. I could go skiing and have 25 to 30cm of fresh snow each day!

Lilypon,
On PEI we had a winter storm on Wednesday. About 20 cm of snow and lots of wind. Now it has been raining off and on since Friday and we have a heavy rainfall warning in effect for the Island. The temps yesterday was plus 7 degrees which melted most of the snow. What a crazy winter!

I'm glad you enjoyed the pics Soferdig. Here's the aftermath of yesterday's storm. It is still snowing here, although not as heavily. The temperature is still hovering around 1 degree C, and my poor DH is going to break his back shovelling that heavy wet stuff!

I sure remember La Nina's effects in 1996 Pam, and the previous one as well. I hadn't even thought of her (La Nina) in a long time. Maybe she doesn't like to be forgotten :-)

Wow.......to both your snowfalls!!! Please send a *little* bit more west please! :) I read somewhere where they said how many tonnes of snow one would have to remove from one heavy dump on a driveway and I hope y'all take care.........actually SAVE YOUR BACKS AND SEND IT HERE!!! Articfire I agree........for us all to share basically the same temps feels sooooooooo wrong.

The first link above says: In a La Nina winter, the Canadian air temperature (especially west of Quebec) tends to be below normal (Hoerling et al., 1997; Shabbar and Khandekar, 1996), while the precipitation in southern Canada tends to be above normal (Shabbar et al., 1997).

What was a La Nina winter like down East? It sure hasn't kicked in here yet.

This message was edited Feb 5, 2006 11:04 AM

p.s. Ginny that is a gorgeous pic..........I love it when the trees are covered like that.

One thing I know is that in that picture North is to the right of the photo. All the snow is on one side of the tree. Your snow comes down with an artic push and lots of wind. Here in Montana only once in a while do we get the Alberta Artic flow and get wind. Most of ours comes down in small lite flakes that are wonderful to watch through my sun room roof. I turn on the light above the room and watch the snow from a dark interior. You get dizzy looking up. Or maybe that is the Merlot.

I'm glad you liked the pic Pam. You're absolutely right Soferdig. North is to the right in the pic.

Well, after I posted the above I left to do some shopping and vist the inlaws. By the time we left Goderich to come home (about 20 minutes away normally) the storm had kicked back in in full gear and we couldn't go any faster than 40 - 50 kph. It's still snowing here with gusting winds and whiteout conditions. No work for me today - all roads in and out are closed.

Where is that oversized white rat Willie anyway.... :-)

I'd take another pic to show y'all, but it's too depressing. Maybe later after I've had a couple cups of coffee.

I don't think either of us twinkled our noses right. :(

On the plus side ya don't have to go to work!!!

Okay, here's the photo updates. First, the same view, more or less, as the last one for comparison.

A little more to the north from the same window.

Finally, this one is facing east. I know there are cars under there some place!

ginnylynn is that a natural face on the tree in your first photo today? Or did you hang one on the tree. Kind of great natural face on a tree. Must be a mature face has white hair. Thank you for the memories of winter.

Holy smokes - quite a storm you had there Ginny!

Sandy

Uh oh I can tell our Ginny isn't very happy today.
My gift to you: http://www.giftbaskets.com/giftbaskets/Assets/product_images/bg_cm_arom-relax.jpg

BTW I showed this thread (and your recent pics) to a couple of co-workers........they promised me that if we get 30+ cm of snow, because of my begging, they'd rent trucks just to dump their driveways contents on mine. :0



This message was edited Feb 6, 2006 1:43 PM

Winter is doing just fine here, close to and in Winnipeg. -20C last night. Today we are getting some beautiful sunshine for a change and I'm taking advantage of the day to clean out my freezer. Before another chinook makes it all the way here. Still good snow cover here too.

High -8 °C
Light Snow Showers Low Drifting Snow Showers Thanks again Ginny!
Windchill: -17 °C
Humidity: 68%
Dew Point: -13 °C
Night: -14° °C

A temp drop here too but at least the little that's falling is snow now. :) Some are reporting our moisture base isn't too bad (those Dec/Jan rains counted for something) but a good snow would insulate it from drying colder temps.

This message was edited Feb 6, 2006 3:41 PM

We've got all this wonderful snow too and if anyone would like a ton or so I'd be happy to ship it! We have drifts about 4 ft high, it's crazy, just completely nuts the weather this year.

Snow squall warning still in effect, it's not over yet!

LOL I wish I had trees that unique Soferdig, but no, that isn't a natural face. It's a Forest Face I hung last summer. All three of the trees in my front yard have one - each one different.

Thanks for the gift Pam - I'll go run a hot steamy bath right now :-) I can understand your co-workers sentiments precisely! Usually, it's "be careful what you ask for because you just might get it", but in this case it would be "be careful what Pam asks for because you might have to live with it!"

A few of the highways in my region are open now, but some only partially, and a number remain closed due to drifting and blowing snow. It's supposed to stabilize over the next few hours, but we'll see. It was just a few days ago that they were still forecasting spring-like weather for this area for most of February.

Ginny I'll take my chances with them. Since this is our possible (probable) summer forecast:

I took this picture at 3pm today. What a lot of snow in such a short time... and it is still snowing....

Here's another view.

I though this was cute.. cold but cute...

What's the temps there now?
Looking pretty nice (to me;)

Annetta, It's a lot different in Pickering than it is in Mississauga. You wouldn't think we were both in the GTA.

Now at 7:00 p.m. Monday, we have a very light snow drifting down, mostly bare lawns with a few faint snow ridges.

Better check my larders for any large items that are needed and get stocked up, because I got a feeling we're going to pay dearly for all the nice weather we've had.

Nice pictures. Joan

The temp is -6c with a wind chill of -12c and still snowing. We have cleaned of driveway twice already..... Next time I get out the snow blower.

Latest photo. taken at 8:20pm
Annetta

Nice pics Annetta. Is your area still under the storm warning? Off lake squalls are supposed to continue but diminish overnight for us, clearing some time tomorrow morning.

Okay. Starting with Tuesday, the forecast is (precipitation/high/low):

Flurries/-5/-7?, isolated flurries/-6/-12, a few flurries/-4/-12, flurries/-3/-9, light snow/-2/-4, light snow/-5/-5, then just for a change on Monday - light snow/-5/-10!

And looking at the 14 day trend graph, it looks like more of the same right through until February 20. Of course, that can and does usually change almost daily - and I sure hope it does this time too!

Still beautiful no snow Alberta. A little cooler in the morning these days: -11 or so but sunny and zero during the day. And I don't miss the snow one bit. Haven't had to switch to the bigger tractor and haven't gotten the little one stuck at all this year. We have had days in December and January when the babies went out without their blankets. Let's hear it for global warming!!

and we've had 45 out of the last 47 days with rain. Today was nice, the sun actually came out! I have a poly vynal and galvanized steel GH that is in a broken heap from the last wind storm. The plastic is OK, but the frame is bent so far to the point of breaking. I"ll get out in the garden once it dries up a bit and I don't sink into the mud.

Linda