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Old 03-05-2015, 05:37 PM
 
1,395 posts, read 2,507,463 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BradSTaylor View Post
Calgary has the most sunny days year round of Canada's 100 largest cities, with just over 332 days of sun.[45] The city is among the sunniest in Canada, with 2,396 hours of annual sunshine, on average
Quote:
Originally Posted by BradSTaylor View Post
We have chinooks through out the winter as well, which for the most part makes our winters quite mild. We get the odd cold snap, but this year has been very mild.
Sunny, yes. Mild, not really. For half of the year, Calgary is very cold. Chinooks or no Chinooks, there's no way around that.
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Old 03-05-2015, 06:13 PM
 
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Originally Posted by maclock View Post
Sunny, yes. Mild, not really. For half of the year, Calgary is very cold. Chinooks or no Chinooks, there's no way around that.
I lived in Calgary for 30 years, there are only a couple really cold months Dec, & Jan. The rest is pretty mild IMO.

We get chinooks all through winter, this year we have barely had a winter.

Maybe go visit Winnipeg and you will have a different opinion, haha.
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Old 03-05-2015, 06:43 PM
 
1,395 posts, read 2,507,463 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BradSTaylor View Post
I lived in Calgary for 30 years, there are only a couple really cold months Dec, & Jan. The rest is pretty mild IMO.

We get chinooks all through winter, this year we have barely had a winter.

Maybe go visit Winnipeg and you will have a different opinion, haha.
Why do some Calgarians insist on peddling this fiction? Calgary is warmer than Hoth, but that ain't saying much. Calgary is flat-out freezing for half of the year.

I've also lived in Calgary. Not for 30 years, but I've lived there. In the wintertime, Calgary is colder than just about any other large city in North America. Winnipeg beats it when it comes to winning the worst winter medal, sure, but no-one here is claiming that Winnipeg is mild.
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Old 03-05-2015, 06:44 PM
 
Location: Sunnyside, Calgary
250 posts, read 640,701 times
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Mid November and all of February are subject to extreme cold... Like weather advisory extreme cold. Things usually start warming up in March.

Milder winter conditions shouldn't come as a surprise anytime between mid October and late May. Snows in September and June happen, but aren't the norm. July and August are generally, but not absolutely, snow free.

This winter was exceptionally mild. I think our biggest snowfall was in the summer!

My American nephew (5 years old) was visiting during our September snow storm. He seemed very concerned that there was a summer blizzard. I think that is a reasonable response...
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Old 03-05-2015, 06:47 PM
 
Location: Seattle-WA-USA
678 posts, read 871,576 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maclock View Post
Why do some Calgarians insist on peddling this fiction? Calgary is warmer than Hoth, but that ain't saying much. Calgary is flat-out freezing for half of the year.

I've also lived in Calgary. Not for 30 years, but I've lived there. In the wintertime, Calgary is colder than just about any other large city in North America. Winnipeg beats it when it comes to winning the worst winter medal, sure, but no-one here is claiming that Winnipeg is mild.
Lol, Hoth,
I think because if you've lived in a cold place for so long, your definition of "cold" changes as you get so used to it. It's all relative depending on the person. Where I live, californians shiver when it gets 10C/50F, but someone from Calgary will probably think that's summer weather.
"Cold" has a different definition in california than it does in wisconsin.
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Old 03-07-2015, 08:59 AM
 
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
2,869 posts, read 4,427,488 times
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To our American friend..........Remember that in Canada, and the rest of the world for that matter, temperatures are in Celsius degrees, not the US system. So, when some body mentions a day at 36 C it s a HOT day. We use the word MINUS to indicate that the temp is below freezing, as in it's minus 24 C today, put on your long undies, buddy. Then there is the "wind chill factor " that comes into play when it's all ready bloody cold, AND the wind is blowing at 24 kilometres per hour. Very cold weather makes things break, such as plastic car trim, or the car door handle. It can and does kill people who are unprepared for it, or those that get drunk and decide to "walk home from the bar." Happens every winter, in various parts of Canada, seriously.

I guess my basic point is that in Canada we don't have palm trees, but we do have pine trees in abundance. There is a reason for that...........! Canada is a Nordic country, for the most part.

Jim b. In Toronto.
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Old 03-07-2015, 12:17 PM
 
Location: Seattle-WA-USA
678 posts, read 871,576 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by canadian citizen View Post
To our American friend..........Remember that in Canada, and the rest of the world for that matter, temperatures are in Celsius degrees, not the US system. So, when some body mentions a day at 36 C it s a HOT day. We use the word MINUS to indicate that the temp is below freezing, as in it's minus 24 C today, put on your long undies, buddy. Then there is the "wind chill factor " that comes into play when it's all ready bloody cold, AND the wind is blowing at 24 kilometres per hour. Very cold weather makes things break, such as plastic car trim, or the car door handle. It can and does kill people who are unprepared for it, or those that get drunk and decide to "walk home from the bar." Happens every winter, in various parts of Canada, seriously.

I guess my basic point is that in Canada we don't have palm trees, but we do have pine trees in abundance. There is a reason for that...........! Canada is a Nordic country, for the most part.

Jim b. In Toronto.
I know about celsius.... I lived in Vietnam before, and I also lived in Minnesota. So I know what cold is like.
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Old 03-09-2015, 12:31 AM
 
Location: Fremont, California
84 posts, read 79,489 times
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Ha funny, I just moved from Calgary to the San Francisco Bay Area

I wouldn't put a lot of stock in the worry that environmentalists are scrutinized by the police. It's not unusual for there to be some kind of protest downtown in Olympic Plaza. As long as you're peaceful about it, you'll be fine.

Calgary definitely has an "old boys club" of oil company execs who hang out at places like the Petroleum Club and are staunchly conservative. Over the last 10-15 years, though, that mentality has started to be overshadowed by an influx of younger twenty to forty somethings who have more liberal leanings. You won't be an outcast in Calgary you're on the liberal side of the spectrum, not by any means. Example: Calgary has a gay pride parade, which is happily attended by the Muslim mayor.

Groceries and clothes will cost you more than in California, but not vastly so.

The winters are nasty. There will be days when the weather report will include a warning that exposed skin will freeze in under ten minutes. Luckily the truly awful cold snaps don't usually last more than a few days. What got to me about Calgary's climate is that all the trees, grass, etc., are brown and dormant from mid-September to mid-May. That said, Calgary is very sunny and humidity is never an issue. Some people embrace it by going skating, snowshoeing, skiing, and various other winter sports.

Calgary kinda is in the middle of nowhere. It's amusing to fly east over the Rockies and see mountains give way to foothills and then bam! Out of nowhere, this sprawling city with very little else around it. Like mikeyyc mentioned, almost everything is Calgary proper and once you hit the city limits it's all farmers' fields. There are some day trips to the mountains, but Edmonton is the only other sizeable city in the vicinity, and it's three ours away.

In addition to the communities mentioned you could try McKenzie Towne. It's further south and not quite as walkable, but it's nicely planned and there are loads of shops and services nearby.

Overall it's not a bad place to raise kids. My experience with the Calgary public school system was great. There are also resources like FamilyFunCalgary.com to help you find things to do with the kids.
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Old 03-11-2015, 10:30 PM
 
Location: Liminal Space
1,023 posts, read 1,544,752 times
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Thanks for all the replies - this thread has been really interesting. Calgary sounds like it has a lot going for it. The one thing putting me off at the moment is the cost of living, which doesn't sound too much better than the Bay Area. The US-to-Canadian exchange rate is currently 1.27 which doesn't help things (it was closer to 1-to-1 for a while). Well, I haven't even gotten a call for an interview but it's good to get the info.
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Old 03-12-2015, 07:51 AM
 
Location: Hougary, Texberta
9,019 posts, read 14,212,555 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bentobox34 View Post
Thanks for all the replies - this thread has been really interesting. Calgary sounds like it has a lot going for it. The one thing putting me off at the moment is the cost of living, which doesn't sound too much better than the Bay Area. The US-to-Canadian exchange rate is currently 1.27 which doesn't help things (it was closer to 1-to-1 for a while). Well, I haven't even gotten a call for an interview but it's good to get the info.
That exchange rate works in your favor. Every USD is worth 1.27 Canadian. It's like getting a 30% discount on everything.
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