Jan. 9, 2010

I’m not sure what gets talked about more than the weather. It’s almost always the first thing off the tongue after, “How’s it going?” For some, the answer frequently depends on how the weather is at the moment.

Like, the other evening as I climbed out of the truck in D’Arcy’s driveway to unpacked musical instruments for rehearsal in his basement preparing for a Rabbie Burns Day gig.

“How are you?” he asked.

“Grrr,” was my response, trying to keep the snowflakes off my stiff upper lip. But then, I recovered in time to say, “I’m OK. Really. Could be worse. The wind could be blowing.”

And it often does here. Seems it used to blow more, but maybe if you’ve lived here long enough, it’s never as bad as it used to be.

Wind is supposed to be a good thing this time of year, if it comes from the west. Otherwise, it could just make a cold day feel even colder. I recall many years ago Bill Matheson, when he worked at the old CJOC, commenting about an advertiser who called the station suggesting announcers refrain from reporting the wind chill because it would keep potential shoppers away from his store.

I expect the wind will be blowing today, pushing the temperature above freezing for the first time in awhile. For many, that’s a plus. For others, it may be too windy. Earlier this week, they said it was too cold. When the temperature in the summer nudges 30 C, they say it’s too hot.

I wish.

These days, seems like we’ve been in winter forever. Following an abnormally mild November, we returned home in early December from a trip to Saskatoon to 61 cm of snow around the house. Had to dig ourselves in. Seems like we’ve been shoveling steadily since. Good exercise.

Sweeping is even better. But, the larger snowfalls require a shovel. Well into the dump this week, and after sweeping or shovelling for the umpteenth time, I stuck a tape measure down 13 cm into the new snow. The average snow depth is 6 cm in January, 2 in December. Without counting the other, smaller snow events since Dec. 4, we’ve had about 75 cm so far, more than half the annual average of 130 cm.

Compared with the other 99 largest Canadian cities, Lethbridge ranks only 66^th for the amount of snow it receives annually. Thirty-five of those cities have fewer snow days. And 85 have a greater average snow depth at the end of January. Do you get the feeling the last two winters here haven’t been average?

Eight cities are windier, 54 colder, only four have more sunny winter days and 10 are drier. For mild winters, Lethbridge ranks 17^th, the warmest on the Prairies.

Other positives about winter here: when it’s cold and snowy outside, you can get stuff done inside, like planning spring gardens by ordering seeds, finishing off basement renos that never end, or enjoying the sheer beauty and quiet that accompanies a soft snowfall.