Weather

Canadians talk so much about the weather because we get so much of it.

We certainly have had our share this winter. Yesterday we had a welcome break as three hours of freezing rain were followed by several more hours of heavy rain. Today we have quite a bit less snow cover than we had at this time yesterday. The temperature is still 2°, so the water still lies in puddles for vehicles to splash through and still runs in rivulets toward the closest drain.

OTOH, the Weather Network's website states that we should get something like 100-120 cm of snow in a normal winter with about one quarter of it falling in February. Have we had that much so far this winter or even this month? I doubt it, but cannot be sure unless I can find some actual data recorded at one of the weather stations. Oakville is not listed in the Weather Network's page, but averages for Toronto's Pearson International Airport and Hamilton Airport are the closest I can find.

The same website informs me that we have had about average snow cover for the month - about 15 cm. The snow banks along the street where the plow and shoveling have piled it up makes it appear much more. Actually I would put the amount on our front and back yards at least more than 20 cm even with the melting of the last day or so.

I am happy that the cedar trees at the back of the garden are now free of snow. Until yesterday they were heavily laden and bent with snow that fell last week and pressed them askew. I noticed while at lunch today that they had resumed their normal rounded shape. Not so, the juniper, the globe cedar and Korean box trees in the front garden. They are still weighed down and twisted with heavy, wet snow. If we get colder weather as predicted for the next few days, they will not be relieved of this weight until the next good melt.

I do note however that the 14 day probabilities are for temperatures below freezing for the rest of this week, but above normal temperatures for next week and into early March. It could be that we shall lose our snow cover before the next heavy snowfall.
We usually have another blizzard in early March and can expect about 20 cm for the month of March. That could come in what is known in my family as "Betty's Blizzard." It is so called because she was born in Montreal on March 7, 1920 in a snowstorm that nearly prevented Mother from getting to the hospital in time for the delivery.

I can also recall years when we were snowed in for a couple of days around the same time. That happened in 1944, if I recall correctly. Betty, George and Gordon were at Windy Ridge for the weekend. Betty and Gordon were due back in Ottawa Sunday night. George was on his embarkation leave. They were all stranded by the storm until Tuesday morning. Both George and Gordon were reported AWOL, but so were countless other troops. I believe a troop train bound for Halifax from the West was stranded in Northern Ontario that same weekend.

Of course, this may not be an accurate account of the affair, but that is how I remember it. Was it the same storm that piled so much snow on the golf course across the Rivière du Chêne that Stewart and I were able to ski over the clubhouse roof
and I photographed Stewart leaning on the crossbar of a telephone pole? I wonder if I still have that photo or its negative. Ah, the adventures of youth that remain in memory even after sixty-five years!