Re: Job seekers heading to Alberta
 

And what I am getting at is that -25 isn`t the coldest it gets. It gets *way* colder than -25, down to yes -45 (and lower e.g. in Fort McMurray `the oil path hint hint``) and even though it`s not -45 for an entire month it definitely can be low -30s for an entire month.

Basically I`m saying he was splitting hairs, and so are you if you really live in Calgary because it`s a damn sight colder than -25C at the worst for weeks at a time.

Re: Job seekers heading to Alberta
 

Sorry but I can't buy that and I have lived here in Calgary for 37 years.

Re: Job seekers heading to Alberta
 

The facts go against you mate.
Right from the horse`s mouth: calgary.weatherstats.ca
Coldest temperatures for the months of November, December, January, February, March:
-30C, -26.3C, -29C, -28.2C, -29.7C.

Now what are the chances that there was just *one single day* of each month where it was that cold and the rest of the time it magically jumped higher than -25C for the rest of the month.... Not likely is what it is

And that is *Calgary* which is much warmer than e.g. Fort McMurray (whose numbers for the same months are -30.9, -33.4, -38.8, -34, -38.3)
Moreover: Note that these are ambient air temperatures and NOT wind chill. With wind chill it`s at *least* 5 degrees colder ALWAYS and often ten degrees colder. So yes, in fact in *the oil patch* it IS -45C for weeks on end and in *Calgary* it IS much colder than -25C for weeks on end.

So basically the pair of you live in dreamland. It`s baltic and I *know* for a friggen fact it`s baltic because I was *out in it* AND the weather stats bear me out.

Anyways, oftentimes people on whatever forums hold opinions in direct defiance of the facts just because of their "beliefs" and I suspect you two are some of them. Thus I`m going to say nothing more on the topic until next winter when I will diligently post the daily lows each time it goes below -25.

Re: Job seekers heading to Alberta
 

So again, please provide evidence as to the last time it was minus 30 for one week, let alone a month.

Re: Job seekers heading to Alberta
 

I already have. Now *you* provide evidence that -25C is the *coldest* it gets in the *entire* oil patch. You can`t because you`re WRONG.

Like I said, there are people who refuse to bend in the face of facts.

Talk to you next winter.

Re: Job seekers heading to Alberta
 

I didn't say that -25 is the coldest it gets in the entire oil patch, I suggested that you have never had to catch a bus, each day of a period, and at a temperature, you claimed. What you did (I believe, as I couldn't be bothered to check out each page of the first link you provided) was post a couple of links to articles that indicated it was cold on a few days.

Once again, please provide evidence that anywhere in Canada has recorded a temperature of -45 for a period of a month, where a bus service is provided. Then, to really top it off, show us evidence that you were there at the time on said buses.:p

Failing that, please have the courtesy to admit you were talking out of your bottom when you stated what you stated in the quote above.:thumbup:

I live in Calgary. I admit it gets cold. Sometimes, it get so cold that people are required to wear hats and gloves and nose hair freezes in a strange way when one breathes. I have also had to queue for buses in such temperatures. I always thought that the point of working in the oil patch was the ability to earn sufficient money to be able to purchase one's own vehicle.

Time for bed me thinks:thumbsup:

Re: Job seekers heading to Alberta
 

I`m not even bothering to listen to these two clowns any more.

As I stated, -45 or thereabouts is the *real* coldest it gets and you get weeks on end where it`s *way* colder than -25 rather than -25 being the coldest it gets.

For the entertainment of the rest of us, here are the stats for just a single month: The month of January 2011 in Fort McMurray (and who will imagine that december and february are by some miracle much warmer...)


Number of days air temperature colder than -25: 13
Number of days windchill colder than -25: 23
Number of days windchill colder than -30: 16
Number of days windchill colder than -40: 6
Number of days windchill colder than -45: 2

What will be entertaining to most of the brits back home (shuddering in horror no doubt) are the two clowns arguing that -25C (in their imagination being the coldest days) is even remotely warm when the country shuts down when it`s -10. But here we have most of the month of january colder than -30 and at least a straight week colder than -40.

And no I won`t bother my arse trying to prove to you two that I was out in it taking the bus because only a *cheap bastard* would do such a thing.
In actual fact I was really in the bahamas the entire month of january reading weather reports for my own entertainment and laughing at you.

Re: Job seekers heading to Alberta
 

Here`s *another* one for your entertainment. This time Calgary which is supposedly a lot warmer:

``Calgary EMS is warning people to bundle up after extreme wind chills of close to -50 C delayed C-Trains and flights, cancelled classes and drained car batteries.``

Minus bloody FIFTY!!!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...cold-snap.html

edit: Actually I spoke too soon. Here`s one from Edmonton with a windchill of nearly minus bloody SIXTY!!!

http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/lo...b=WinnipegHome

Re: Job seekers heading to Alberta
 

Well unlike most of the smart arses in this thread, I know very well what it's like in the oil patch in winter, as I suspect does our friend xxdb.

On our project, there are over 4,000 workers. Do we want 4,000 trucks driving from camp to the site every day? No, that would be insane. The workers get buses to and from the camp to the site. Old, shitty buses that aren't allowed on public roads any more. Buses which break down, where the heating/AC doesn't work etc... Yes, even in the oil patch where people can afford to buy their own vehicles, there are thousands of people who wait, outside, for buses every day.

Our site is almost 200km north of Fort McMurray. It is just wide open, cleared forest. The temperatures can be brutal in winter, but while we've had lows touching -50C I can't say that we've had -45C for weeks on end. BUT... believe me, when you're a construction worker who spends 12 hours outside every day, it's a very small consolation when the temperature "warms up" from -45C to "only" -30C.

I also spent several winters in Calgary. Yes, it's perfectly possible to almost ignore winter in Calgary if you drive from your heated garage in your heated car to a heated train to a heated +15 walkway to a nice heated office.

So, perhaps don't be quite so quick to leap on literal expressions from someone trying to provide a bit of balance. The truth is that for people who have not experienced it, winters for oil patch workers in northern Alberta are brutal on a scale that simply can't be overstated. even by people who live in Calgary. Oh, how we all laugh when we see headlines in the UK "Big Freeze as temps plummet to -3C!"... well, let's not be so hasty when someone's trying to tell it pretty close to what it's like.

Re: Job seekers heading to Alberta
 

That's all why you are paid so well.

I live in fear that i will have to go up for a meeting in winter.

It actually worse as a lot of the earthworks construction has to be done in winter.

Re: Job seekers heading to Alberta
 

Rumours ("you'll make over $100 per hour"; "you don't notice the cold because it's a dry cold") versus the reality of working outside in Northern Canada in the winter. Plenty of folks will stampede out here for work, and some of them will stay through the coming winter months.

For the last few years my job has related to construction workers in Alberta. Sometimes LMOs are involved. I try to give the prospective LMO worker a realistic view of what s/he might face. As an example, minus 40 is cold, and it doesn't matter if that's minus 40 F, or C, or 20% humidity or 70% humidity. It is freaking cold. And, for the record, taking a bus to the job site is normal for these people -- except on those days where the bus doesn't show up, of course. Prospective workers get a list of clothing that will help to deal with the weather. Those who think "thermal long johns" are an unnecessary expense end up buying them to stay employed over the winter. And for some people, $45/hour regular wages, plus a camp room with meals, plus a bus to/from the work site, isn't enough to stay through the winter. Yes, overtime wages are higher. But $100/hr as regular wage? Not for the people I deal with.

Calgary to Fort McMurray is about the same distance as London to Aberdeen. Today, London is reported to be 21 deg C (70 deg F) and Aberdeen is 14 deg C (57 deg F). Meanwhile, Calgary is reported to be 10 deg C (50 deg F) and Fort Mac is 14 deg C (57 deg F). Does that mean Fort Mac is warmer than Calgary? Today it is. Over the course of a year -- um, no. One day does not a trend make. And, as has been pointed out, the outside jobs for the construction work I deal with are not actually in the city of Fort McMurray, they are located in the open wilderness many miles/kms outside the city.

Each to his/her own. You could not pay me enough to live the way these workers do, to earn a few extra bucks doing their jobs.

Re: Job seekers heading to Alberta
 

Man you make the weirdest arguments.

You take the coldest recorded temperature for a period and extrapolate that to mean it stayed that cold for the entire period. :confused:

Tell you what, you give me a recent winter month any month and I'll give you the daily highs and lows for that month in Calgary to prove you wrong.

Re: Job seekers heading to Alberta
 

Actual daily highs and lows for Fort McMurray as provided by Environment Canada.

http://climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/c...&Month=1&Day=1

No-one is arguing it doesn't get cold in either Calgary or Fort McMurray what I'm saying is it does stay that cold for weeks at a time.

When this poster says number of days air temperature was below -25 it does not mean it was below -25 all day long. That was the overnight low it warmed up during the day. Look at the chart provided and you'll see the number of days the overnight low was less than -25 was in fact 14 but the number of days the high temperature was less than -25 was only 3.

So yes it's cold but the poster misrepresents the facts.

Re: Job seekers heading to Alberta
 

Thanks for the link, Steve_P. I find that extremely interesting because last winter a job site shut down outside Fort Mac for at least a week because of on-going extreme cold. The site re-opened when the temperature rose to a balmy -25 deg C. :eek:

Again, the construction sites I refer to are not located within Fort McMurray city limits and therefore are not (afaik) available through such sites as Environment Canada or the Weather Network. And for those who think the temps in High Level would be a good comparison, my office has not found this to be the case.

Don't get me started about my friends who keep saying "oh, but the chinooks help to warm things up" .... :rofl:

Re: Job seekers heading to Alberta
 

I've posted this before... OK, it's not official or anything, but it's what the chefs saw on their thermometer outside the mess hall (200km north of Fort Mac)