Weather and Gardening Discussion

[UrbanWarrior]

No updates to the Calgary Weather Records reddit in over a month now, but this has got to be one of our longest stretches without a high below freezing in our history.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

224 days with highs above 2⁰ C

228 days since our last high below freezing.

 

[Mountain Man]

Looks like that streak will come to an end early next week. I actually want it to start getting proper cold so I can get used to it, I feel like we are going to get a brutal reality check at some point in the near future!

 

[lemongrab]

Does the fact that we were above freezing from midnight-3am keep the record going? Because it doesn't look like we're getting back over 0 today.

 

[lemongrab]

I think the above 0 streak is still alive. On the 18th YYC Int'l A got up to 0.4C at 3pm, and Nov. 14th was above 0 from midnight to 4am.

Mon/Tue/Wed all calling for a high of -1C next week, but who knows, maybe we squeak by!

 

[Mountain Man]

Can't believe our first proper snowfall took till November 24! Hope people aren't stuck in traffic for too long today! Lots of talk about the Polar Vortex descending on us soon, December may be very cold...

 

[trtcttc]

And it just keeps coming down. Also thanks for all the snow plough drivers and first responders. Some comments on social media are quite negative. We are a big city with lots of roads, driving this morning, a surprising number of routes are ploughed.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

I work in snow removal in the winter and holy shit, absolutely brutal. I shovel and machine commercial sites, not plow. But appreciate the kudos.

 

[Red Star]

I work in snow removal in the winter and holy shit, absolutely brutal. I shovel and machine commercial sites, not plow. But appreciate the kudos.

That's good, honest work. Makes you appreciate summer and beach days.

 

[Zoom]

View attachment 601512
Some pretty interesting maps in this paper for those interested, but we seem to have higher urban heat island effect in the core, particularly at night.

Variation in Urban Heat Island effect across major Canadian cities

The escalating global climate change poses a more severe challenge, and Canada, as a high-latitude country, is experiencing heightened Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects. Given the substantial influence of UHIs on urban, regional, and national climates, ecosystems, and human life, researching this...

era.library.ualberta.ca

This is really interesting. I've always wondered what actual effect the heat island had on Calgary.

 

[Alex_YYC]

There’s for sure a heat island effect when it comes to areas like the Beltline. The flowers and leaves come in about two weeks ahead of areas near the edge of the city.

 

[Mountain Man]

Holy blizzard Batman!!

 

[JWhite]

Crazy out there!

 

[AtlanticAvenue]

I drove to the deep NW from the University area on Crowchild about 45 mins ago and every single road I took is a disaster. The outside lanes of Crow are just snowdrifts with cars periodically appearing out of the haze. It gets especially bad around Stoney.

Stay home if you can!

 

[lemongrab]

Probably the craziest blizzard I've ever driven in within the city. The driving was generally fine, but going from my car to the school door and back showed just how crazy the wind was!

I can't even imagine how bad it must have been outside the city! Looks like QE2 is closed from about Calgary to Bowden.