Moved: Cold
 

Hi there

We have the opportunity to move and work in either British Col, Nova Scotia or Alberta (wife's a nurse) - we've checked out BC and NS and climate and there it seems relatively temperate but wife is really put off by Alberta winters though we've never experienced them as she suffers terribly in the cold. I've tried to say that it's a "different type of cold" i.e. dry and therefore doesn't tend to permeate through your bones the way a cold damp day here in U.K. does but I'm really not that sure myself as I've never experienced what it's like in Alberta. Could someone enlighten us please?

Thanks
Bert

Re: Cold
 

Cold I've experienced in Alberta, and I have to say I've never actually been there in the Winter, is indeed a dryer cold that in the UK. You can easily stand much much lower temperatures by just wrapping up.

Here in Toronto (now I know before everyone starts up that it gets much colder elsewhere) we've happily gone out for walks at -11 C as the cold is dry and not too much of an issue. In the UK if it was -1 C we'd have not gone out as the cold would have, as my mum would say, "gone right through ye." It is much different. Unless the wind is really strong, just wrapping up in a couple of layers will be fine. Mind you the only way you'll actually know is to try it. Also I suspect that Vancouver winters, while warmer, actually feel relatively cold due to the dampness. Also they get more rain I believe.

Re: Moved: Cold
 

In Vancouver, if you can see the top of the mountains, it is going to rain, if you can't, it's raining.

Cold and Canada are synonymous, but we don't have too many poisonous snakes and we have the clothing for it and the homes are built so it is not even a consideration.

I have run miles in minus 20 weather, you just dress for it, not in woolies but gortex and other liuhjt weight materials.

All areas have a weather pattern, if you don't mind 40 days of continuous rain, Vancouver is fine, but in saying B.C, you have to be clear in what area, the Okanagan is mainly desert, little rain, lots of snow.

Re: Moved: Cold
 

Hi

We are in our first winter in Alberta and I have to say that I am a real wimp when it comes to the cold. Most of my friends in the UK were laying bets on how long I would last once the temperature hit below zero! Well I have to say I am still here and am surviving! I am from Lancashire so am used to very damp weather! Here, although it is cold, the sun is often shining which is much better than grey sky and cloud - and it really does not feel as cold as it says on the thermometer - which is what people told me before I came out and I did not believe them! It is a wierd feeling though when you breathe in and you can feel the inside of your nose sticking together as it freezes - that is how I gauge whether it is a particularly cold day!!! :rofl:

My parents have just returned to Lancashire after two weeks with us and my Mum has just sent me an email to say she has got the fire and the heating on and feels colder there when the temperature outside is 7 degrees, than she did when she was here and it was well below zero.

So, speaking as a fellow "I am not going to Alberta, it is too cold" (which were my exact words when my husband said he was going to apply for a job here!) I really wouldn't let the cold put you off too much if that is the only thing putting you off.

At the end of the day everyone is different, so good luck wherever you choose to go!

Lisa

Re: Moved: Cold
 

Hey thanks very much - good to know ! Where in Alberta are you?
Bert

Re: Moved: Cold
 

Hi,

When we lived in England I was always cold - to the point that at work I would type wearing fingerless gloves and wear a scarf in the office. I would also go to bed wearing jogging bottoms when it was really chilly. My hubby worried about me and the Albertan winters.

I don't feel cold like I used too. It's a dry cold here, not the bone chilling damp that gets into your core that you can never warm up from. The houses seem better insulated and warmer and I never thought I'd say it but -5 is actually quite warm:eek:

There are days where the cold takes your breath away and your eyelashes stick together, but you dress warmly and they are the days you don't stay out too long (-20 etc) a bit like you wouldn't go out when it's p###ing down and windy in the UK.

Re: Moved: Cold
 

Thanks very much really appreciate the comments - my wife says her circulation is terrible and sometimes here she just can't warm up...especially her feet and she's worried she'll just never be warm there.
Bertie

Re: Moved: Cold
 

I have been in Alberta since July this year..it was +30 when I got here and today its -12.. But it doesnt get in to you..I have asked people about the weather back ijn the UK and they are all moaning that its cold (+10) and damp and they all have the rads up high.. If you dress accordingly the weather out here is great..I cant talk for BC or anywhere else in Canada but Albertan winters are cold but sunny and dry..
We went out with our 4 year old son in -17 and he didnt moan once, it may have been because his lips were frozen shut, he loves the snow.
Take the leap and you will love it out here.

Re: Moved: Cold
 

Spot on..

Re: Moved: Cold
 

I'd not call having to shovel the driveway just about 10 times in total all winter "lots of snow". We live higher up and get 1-2 foot all through winter, town dwellers living lower down get way less, and that tends to come and go with periods of melt. Say 6-10" max at any one point in time. More snow up on the mountains of course, Big White gets in the region of 750 cm.

Compared to the UK, where an inch of snow brings the urbane masses to a misery-inducing standstill, we cope very easily here. Life carries on as normal really. You can snow shovel in a t-shirt most days, unless it's at night when the temp drops and the wind blows more.

Lows of -10 (usually overnight) are easy to deal with, day temps of around zero. Again, a dry type of cold. -15, -20 are the lowest of lows we've experienced. No big deal, just wrap up warm. Commonsense really.

R>

Re: Moved: Cold
 

just to add , I have bad circulation in my feet. Always had cold feet back in the UK (very useful for planting on Ben in middle of the night :) ) . I don't seem to have suffered at all here. Ok as Ben has pointed out we are in Toronto which doesn't get as cold as a lot of places. Believe it or not , we don't currently have our heating on and are still sleeping with the bedroom window open.

Re: Moved: Cold
 

I used to suffer terribly from cold feet, hands and nose, when your feet and nose are cold you just can't get warm. There are occasions I sleep with socks on but certainly every night like I used to. I honestly am warmer here than in the UK and would wonder if Vancouver with it's dampness would be similar to a UK winter, I don't know as I haveonly been to Vancouver once in the summer. But a clear winters day here is so much nicer than a damp grey one in the UK.

Re: Moved: Cold
 

Ditto, ditto and ditto for Alberta

I think winter so far has been a complete non-event !! (She says, manically touching wood). OK, so yes, ask me again in Jan and/or Feb and/or March when I'm out shovelling snow - but so far, so good. We had two chilly weeks in November, -19 kind of chilly - and we've had a few inches of snow altogether in about three separate sprinklings. I've had to be careful, but not paranoid about driving on two specific days.

Oh - and it is bright and mostly sunny. Rain? Not seen the stuff for months.

The house is warm - the air is dry (too dry when the heating kicks in in the morning) - and simple layers keep you warm. I occasionally get cold ears because I rarely wear a hat - something I ought to address (but it is soooo not me, dahling!).

So -for my chunk of Alberta - I don't get what all the fuss is about. :p

(Running off to duck and hide now, awaiting all the "oh, you just wait love" comments :rofl::rofl: :eek: )

Re: Moved: Cold
 

We are in Okotoks, just south of Calgary.

Re: Moved: Cold
 

I have had to nag my younger son to put on a coat with him moaning that he does not need one because it "is only -7 degrees!!" :)