It's cold here

by Jenn
(Winnipeg, MB, Canada)

I live in Winnipeg. Commonly refered to as Winterpeg. For those of you who think the winters are not too bad, its probably because where you live, it's not that bad.

I have a one year old son and I feel like we've been stuck indoors for ages. It's been 6 months since we played outside last, due to the cold, and it's only March. It's still -20°C or colder most days. And it'll be a few more months till it really warms up. Its true, some summers are hot here, but usually only for 2 months. The rest of the year it's cool to frigidly cold.

Barry's Response - For sure. I confident the folks in Minneapolis and other highly continental climates can relate to this one. An extremely continental climate Dfd or Dwd is one in which the coldest month of the year averages -38 degrees Celsius or colder and the warmest averaging 10 degrees or better. No place in North America qualifies; no place in the world except Siberia.

Winnipeg is, more or less, the closest we have. In fact it is Dfb, like the majority of the populated regions of Canada. That means it has 4 or more months averaging 10 degrees or better, at least one month averaging less than -3 and no real dry season. Winnipeg averages 19 degrees in July, -18 in January. The summer humidity can be unbearably high at times as well, but on the whole, it remains quite comfortable until the end of September. Winnipeg is also known for its winter winds, but the windiest time of year is late April and early May, while September is the calmest.

The highest temperature was 40.6 degrees (105 Fahrenheit) and the lowest was -45 (-49). The lowest windchill was -57 and the highest humidex was 46.1. Yes, the summers are warmer than most of the rest of the Canadian prairies and the winters are colder, making it nearly super-continental.

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