27 Jan 2012
Archive for January, 2012
17 Jan 2012
Posted by Dave under Dave's Thoughts
Hubris
So that last post was a little bit presumptuous, sure, but really? -32°C?
The superb weather that we had over the Christmas break is definitely over. The above average (above freezing, even) temperatures lasted for almost a month before Old Man Winter decided it was time to knock us down a notch. So on Sunday, the temperatures started to drop and just kept on going into the -30 range. That is cold. Cold enough that the brass monkeys are no longer worried about frost on the pumpkin. And it is going to stay cold, too.
But wait! Take a closer look at that forecast, kindly provided by the good folks at Environment Canada. See the 4th day out from today? Saturday? It will be back up to zero!!
When we lived in Cold Lake, AB (from 1988 to 1996), we endured a lot of cold in the winter. Lots of weeks in January or February where the daytime high temperatures would be -45°C, or worse. Environment Canada would always be looking out for us though – the five day forecast was always 25 or 30 degrees warmer than the current temperature. We used to call these Suicide Prevention Forecasts. So, if you are caught in this southern Alberta deep-freeze, cheer up! Don’t get all depressed and think that this will never end! Look – in just 4 or 5 days all will be fine, all the way back up to 0°C. And life will be beautiful.
UPDATE: 22 Jan 2012
OK, I know that you’ve been wondering, now that Saturday has come and gone, how did it all pan out? Is life beautiful? What about sunshine, or roses? Are there any roses?
Sorry, no. No roses, no 0°C. Here is what really happened:
It was better than the -30°C of a few days ago, but with the breeze it was still cold. And, this morning, I looked out the window to see that it snowed in the night and I had to shovel. I’d be depressed about it, but look at the forecast!
Things will be great in just a few days…
06 Jan 2012
Posted by Dave under Dave's Thoughts
First Signs of Spring
Motorbike riding!
Actually, given that this is southern Alberta there are no really reliable signs of spring. This is more like a sign of an unusually lengthy period of chinook weather. A chinook is a warm wind that blows across the Rockies, devouring the snow and causing motorbikes to appear. December 2011 was warmer than we’ve had for a few years (although I did manage a Christmas day motorbike ride in 2006), between 15 Dec and today only 1 day has not had a positive daytime high temperature. In fact, the high was +10 °C or better four times and one overnight low was even +4 °C.
Anyway, this is the first time that I have ever been able to ride in January – it took over 12 riding seasons, but I’ve now ridden in every month of the year (at one time or another). To top things of, Brenda and I are heading to the Calgary Motorcycle Show today, where we can dream about riding in the Spring-time when it really does arrive.
01 Jan 2012
Posted by Dave under Family,Mobile Blogpost (iphone)
Guess where we are?
First date night of 2012!
We dressed up for the occasion (of course!) and after the performance even went out for a late night bite to eat. Mark was still awake when we got home so he took a picture of us.
Comments guessing who is “beauty” and who is “beast” will be dealt with severely!