Hi I see today that Edmonton is currently -15C, and I know that it goes a lot lower, what I would like to know is how you cope with it? I know about wearing layers etc, does it get to a point when its just so cold you cant feel the difference?

Thanks Si

The cold is all about "layers". Have lots of them and you'll be fine. Seriously, -3 in the UK feels colder for me than -15 here in Kamloops.

When I lived in downtown Toronto I used to walk to work every day - I'd only consider taking the streetcar if it dropped below -10! As long as you wear the right clothes, it can actually be quite, erm, refreshing!

The worst thing about temperatures is the wind chill. A temp of -5 isn't a big deal, but -5 with a wind chill of -15... not much fun.

I think it was Billy Connelly who said there's no such thing as the wrong kind of weather, just the wrong kind of clothes!

-20 with the wind blowing might as well be -50 as far as I'm concerned.

The cold is OK...as long as its not windy. Its the wind that can make life miserable and limit outside activities. Hard to have fun if you cant feel your face anymore.

Indoors though its usually in the low +20s

My mother (almost 80) has just been with us for three weeks and the temperature here in Calgary wasn't above 0c the whole time. She arrived when it was about -26c and she didn't find that too bad (not much wind chill though). She was amazed that she could walk about outside (from car to mall/shop) in her fleece when the weather was -15c.

She even swept our deck for us in -19c

She has just gone back to the UK and finds it much colder there than she did here - she loved the sun and the dry air and found that generally she felt much warmer here than back at home.

For myself I find anything down to about -25c (with no windchill) is fine. Once it goes below that I seem to find it much, much colder.

I haven't really bought any special clothes since we got here (four years ago), I am still wearing much the same things as I did in England although I do wear more vest type thingies under my shirts now

J

Hi,

I have just come back from Toronto. We were outside for 3 hours while at TO zoo in -15 with the windchill.

I looked for advice here before we left and layered up as advised! We actually found it completely fine. The only thing that felt a bit cold was my face.

I have found that since being back in the UK 2c feels colder than -10. It gets into your bones here whereas out there I found that it felt like more of a surface cold as it's dry.

It's really just a number and doesn't feel as cold as it sounds IMO.

Good luck!

I've just come back from a walk in the snow with the temp at minus 13, wearing layers. As usual when I get back I'm too hot. I need new gloves though my finger tips were cold. Mittens are best in this weather

Coming home from work on Saturday it was minus 20 with some god awful windchill I had so many layers on my coat hardly did up. If I fell over I would have bounced- which would be good as it would have been hard to stand up again with that lot on. The car seats were chuffing cold, I must buy one of those plug in car seat heaters

Although perhaps typical of the Ontario winter, -15 with windchill is a balmy spring day in Edmonton

As I said, down to around -20 isnt too bad, but once you are in the mid 20s or lower then its unpleasant however you look at it, and it doesnt really matter how much colder it gets after that, its just a question of how many fewer minutes it takes for exposed skin to freezes and frostbite to takes hold...

Well i think its cold in Toronto. Iain is right about the windchill - that is the killer. As for it just being a number, yes it is - and the lower it is the colder it is! I'll trade -10 for +2 anytime.

i was in Lethbridge in march 09,-5c with the sun shining ,i was walking around in a short sleeve shirt,when the sun dropped,then it felt cold,
today in England -2c feels really cold,extra layers needed today.
nice big warm hat and thick socks.........toasty

In the UK it is wet and damp and that makes it feel really cold compared to Calgary, where we are.
Anything up to -10 is not an issue and as its so dry you just need to make sure you have layers on and you will be quite warm.
The is one of things that family only really understand once they have visited as numbers such -10 or -15 or lower have a certain shock value to people who havent exprerienced life in Canada.

If its - 20C or below I find it hard to breathe, the windchill can be below that and my lungs are ok, but -20C air temp and I struggle.

I think this is really spot on. It's minus 15 in Edmonton today and sunny but as said before it is a very dry cold so doesn't feel as bad. I'll take the dog for a walk shortly with no problem.

I find if I step outside and my nose freezes inside, I know it's -20 or lower. Then it can be quite unpleasant. The thing I find in Edmonton is you can get such big differences in temperature day to day. I believe the forecast for the end of the week is about 3 degrees!

Those three in one jackets are pretty much essential. They keep the cold out superbly and you can still move in them.

-15 presents no problem unless you're standing around at a bus stop for 15 minutes or riding a bike and creating your own wind chill.

Very painful on the ears if they're not covered.

Give me 30 below over the bloody snow every time. Especially with the wet stuff we just had from early Saturday to late Sunday. I just did seven driveway clearances (as well as two separate clearances of the snowplow ridge) to avoid one big one and, boy, was it ever heavy!!

It was -6 this morning at work in uk and I was bloody cold, so I have my fingers crossed about the dry cold feeling warmer than uk temps theory being true.