SAY IT ISN’T SNOW!
Monday’s flurries could have been so much worse than they were
Chill out. Sure, Mother Nature woke up Calgarians with an icy slap to the face. And, admittedly, the earlier darkness after the weekend time change already made Monday just that much more miserable. At worst, it’s a jarring reality check that winter isn’t that far off, but the Herald’s
Doug Hintz shares a few reasons the dreaded snowfall could have been far worse.
1
That’s how much, in centimetres, of precipitation fell on the city Monday, a combination of snow and rain. That’s barely enough to wet the bottom of your shoes. No need for shovels or toques, yet. Besides, by Tuesday morning, the snow will be nothing but a memory. By the way, the record amount of snowfall for Nov. 2 in Calgary is 11.4 cm, in 1933. Rest assured, that didn’t all melt by evening.
52
Days later this year than last year that Calgarians were dealing with snow. Remember Snowtember? Last Sept. 10, the city was hit with 30 centimetres of the white stuff, which decimated trees and knocked out power to thousands. Although, that’s if you don’t count that aberration that blanketed areas west of the city and dropped a few flakes on Calgary on Aug. 21 this year.
10
Centimetres of snow actually on the ground one year ago Monday. Look, the skies may be grey, but those sparse white patches can’t hide the fact the grass is still mostly green. We still have plenty of fall weather to look forward to before winter officially arrives Dec. 22.
- 23.7
The record low temperature for Nov. 2 in Calgary. Monday’s low was a comparatively balmy - 6 C. See? It could have been a lot worse. Should we mention the record high for the date was 21.7 C in 1969? Probably not.
15
The forecast temperature for Saturday. That’s above zero. Sure, it’ll be cool for the better part of the week, with highs hovering just a few degrees above freezing, and lows dropping a few degrees below. But 15 C? That’s still prime golfing weather. And, remember, the forecast calls for a warmer and drier winter than average for Calgary. Thank you El Nino.