Rank the Climates: Canadian edition (snow storm, warm, record, temperatures)
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Location: Kowaniec, Nowy Targ, Podhale. 666 m n.p.m.
355 posts, read 977,244 times
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It's surprising that Longyearbyen is actually warmer than Iqaluit...
Okay, my ranking:
1) Medicine Hat
2) Vancouver (summers do it)
3) Toronto (loses on summers from Vancouver)
4) St. Johns
5) Iqaluit
When it comes down to where I actually would prefer to live:
1) Vancouver (mountains, rain forest, city culture, no need to say more...)
2) Iqaluit (snowmobiling, mountains...)
3) Toronto/St. Johns (toss-up, Toronto has everything in the city, nothing outside of it, St.Johns is like Scotland, with worse weather and no mountains)
5) Medicine Hat - the only thing this city has going for it is it's climate...
Following ChesterNZ's example, I think this might be a good idea.. so I'll get you to rate some select cities in Canada
St. John's
Toronto
Medicine Hat
Vancouver
Iqaluit
My order is - Vancouver, Toronto, Medicine Hat, St. John's, Iqaluit.
I work as a weather forecaster up in ND/MN so I follow Canadian weather quite a bit.
St John's is quite a stormy climate, but also pretty temperate due to ocean influences. It is a very windy place and frequently can get quite heavy rain storms and snow storms in the winter season and also lots of fog. For those that like stormy weather it is a good place, not a good place for those that like sunshine.
Toronto is a fairly typical Great Lakes climate, with its temperatures moderate somewhat by the bodies of water nearby. You can get the entire variety of weather from hot, humid summers to the occasional severe storm, to snow storms and freezing rain in the winter. It often lies far enough west of the main storm track up the east coast and far enough east of the main storm track from the American Midwest into Michigan and central Ontario
so that heavy snows are not frequent. Very much like a Detroit climate. On northside of Lake Ontario and thus usually not prone to lake effect snows.
Medicine Hat is in a very changeable area weather wise....but also in the lee of the Rockies and thus it is a dry climate. Its winter temperatures are often moderate by a chinook so its very cold temperatures dont last too long in most winters. It is the sunniest spot in Canada, I believe, based on climate stations and the number of hours of sun over a year period.
Vancouver is similar to Seattle. It can experience prolonged wet weather in some years, but not every year is that way. Snowfall is quite limited but can occur. The moderate moderate climate of the cities listed.
Iqaluit is arctic....short summers and long winters. Snowfall isnt usually very heavy but prolonged periods of temps below -20F are not uncommon.
For me...because I like plains changeable weather and I prefer a colder climate (though not arctic).... I put Medicine Hat, St Johns, Toronto, Vancouver and Iqualit. Also Medicine Hat is quite a rich city with lots of natural gas drilling in the area.
Why isn't Osoyoos in the list? It's easily the best climate in Canada IMO.
My ranking:
Toronto -- winters are long and cold but they are dry and the summers are to die for.
Medicine Hat -- brutal winters (just look at those record lows!) but the nice summers, dryness and high sunshine might just be enough to compensate.
Vancouver -- winters are relatively mild, but very wet, which would make them feel a lot colder.
St. Johns -- there's nothing I like about this climate. It has the cold winters of Toronto with cooler summers than Vancouver and is much wetter and cloudier than either. It has no redeeming features.
If Vancouver were located on a flat plain with the exact same climate it would not be such a desirable place to be - especially in the wintertime. Not much to do outdoors when it is +6C and raining.
But the nearby mountains (with a colder and snowier climate) make all the difference in the world. Some people say it gives the city the best of both worlds, with excellent wintertime recreation in the snow very close by, but almost no snow to shovel off your driveway at home.
Vancouver- still a year round outdoor climate, even if not the best example.
Toronto-decent summers and not too cold in winter.
Medicine Hat -decent summer and sunny, colder winters rate it lower than Toronto.
St John's- yuck, crap summer, cloudy, foggy, windy.
Iqaluit- double yuck, no real summer, very cold winter.
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