What Is Edmonton Like For An American Southerner?

[minibrings]

The coldest winter I ever spent.. was in Adelaide, Australia. Not that it was that cold (maybe 4 at night at the coldest) but many homes are not well insulated nor do they have central heating. I slept with an electric blanket and a space heater next to me. I would have breakfast with 4 Canadians and we would all b**ch about the cold and talk about how much better things were in Canada and in the US for insulation. Funny thing my neighbor next door to my right, two doors to my left, the one below me, and a couple two flights down.. were Torontonians. 5 Canadians in a building with 40 residents.. .

[mikeyyc]

Having come from Calgary, and now living in Houston, it's easier if you think about it like this.

Take all the little things you do to deal with the heat, and there are an equal amount of things to do to deal with the cold. It will take you some time to adjust, but it really isn't all that bad.

[mellabella]

ZZZzzzZZZZzzzzZZZZzzzz
BBBrrrRRRbbbRRRbbb

[AlbertaSunwapta]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The vast majority of the million or so people who live in Edmonton are either from warmer places or descendants of people from warmer places. They have all adapted and it is very likely that you will adapt as well.
People who come from abroad often say that Canadians have winter adaptation down to an art form, and that winter can sometimes be much more comfortable in large Canadian cities than in milder places like London, Paris or even Melbourne, Australia (not sure about the southern U.S.) since everything here is designed to keep the cold out and the warm in, with jacked up central heating in every single building for example.

Right your are. My grandfather grew up in Texas in the late 1800s then came up to Canada - probably happy to escape the heat. All homes have central heating and many have air conditioning for long hot summer days.

I love the fact that in June it's still nice and light out late into the evening. In December it can be dark at 4:30 pm but once there's fresh snow on the ground everything brightens right up.

We never get so much cold or snow that we can't go to work (pity).

Today, Edmonton's a good sized city with about a million people including the surrounding areas, huge indoor shopping malls, etc.

Jasper and Banff aren't too far away so a lot of Edmontonians spend their weekends skiing or hiking in the Rockies.

By American standards, I believe we'd be considered a fairly safe city.

[Robynator]

A better American comparison for Edmonton would be anywhere in North Dakoka... both places experience the continental climate extremes.

A note about snow/ice-covered roads - chances are Edmonton has a lot of money in its budget for snow-removal. As a result, you'd be surprised, but the roads are likely not ice or snow-covered throughout the winter.

[76m880]

montana is also about the same also

[macmeal]

Originally Posted by Acajack

People who come from abroad often say that Canadians have winter adaptation down to an art form, and that winter can sometimes be much more comfortable in large Canadian cities than in milder places like London, Paris or even Melbourne, Australia (not sure about the southern U.S.) since everything here is designed to keep the cold out and the warm in, with jacked up central heating in every single building for example.

I don't know how Canadians can brag about 'handling winter' so much. EVERYBODY handles it well.

Here in California, about 10 years ago, the first snowfall in 27 years fell on the "Cuesta Grade" on US 101, between San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles. It was nearly an inch deep, and the Highway Patrol closed the road (the main coastal artery from LA-San Francisco).

Do you think that 'upset' us? NO...they located a snowplow (at a highway maintenance station in the mountains east of Fresno...drove it 'lickety-split' across the San Joaquin Valley to the "blockage" (about a 5 hour trip), cleared the grade, and got the 8-mile long traffic jam unsnarled in NO TIME. Just 11 hours after that 30-minute storm, we were BACK in BUSINESS..

Who says Canadians have a special gift for 'handling winter'?

[robertpolyglot]

I happened to be in both Edmonton and Calgary for a couple of days the week between Christmas and New Year. Considering the coldest place I've lived in is Seattle and I'm from California, I was shaking when I went out at night into the cold. For someone from the US's southern latitudes, it's extreme. Even though they remove the snow and ice, it's still hellish to drive in it and walk on the sidewalks.

Progressive cities, nice people...but it's too much...

[AlbertaSunwapta]

We don't handle it well - we hide indoors in the heat as much as we can. We only skate and ski in extreme cold because some weather forecaster going home to a nice cozy house, misled us. :-)

[mikeyyc]

Originally Posted by macmeal

I don't know how Canadians can brag about 'handling winter' so much. EVERYBODY handles it well.

Here in California, about 10 years ago, the first snowfall in 27 years fell on the "Cuesta Grade" on US 101, between San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles. It was nearly an inch deep, and the Highway Patrol closed the road (the main coastal artery from LA-San Francisco).



Who says Canadians have a special gift for 'handling winter'?

The sad statement is that NEARLY an inch of snow closed a highway. It must have take what four or five hours for that to melt?