Howefamily

This winter has sucked as it seems to have rained alot. Before this winter, I loved rain (hated it in the UK, but having lived here in NS almost 7 years I had come to enjoy it). Thats because, compared to the UK, it tends to rain very little especially in the summer months when it will suddenly downpour for a day.


Otherwise its snow in the winter and fluctuating temps that go from minus 25 (windchill) to plus 9 (like today) and this creates lots of ice at times.


The summers rock and its nice and hot. The Autumn is amazingly beautiful and nice and warm.


I have to add - all the locals can say is how this winter is the oddest winter ever seen, so warm and so much rain. Its bizarre to say the very least.


I have a horse, theres lots of horsey stuff going on here.

Howefamily

Thats because its not that bad, I too wondered if I am missing something....

Howefamily

To answer your horsey question better...
Most barns tend to go to local shows as a group and some even in Ontario (Restless Pines in Hammonds Plains) and most hold clinics with big names like Hyde Moffat.
Close to Halifax you have Restless Pines (very high end, compete alot)(https://www.facebook.com/Restless-Pi...0875936673813/)
Down on the more Eastern Shore there is Pinehill, heard good things about it:
https://www.pinehillequestrian.com/


Up in Truro a new barn has just opened:
https://arbourridge.ca/
I know for a fact that this has great riding around it as its right next door to the Central Nova Horse and Pony Assoc. showgrounds and trails, cross country course etc. Its also more affordable boarding being so much further out than Halifax.


Then there are a number of private barns littered around the area.
Hope this gives you some info to start with.

Lolly16

Thanks very much for your responses I appreciate it a lot !
Yes , I was seeing a lot of property’s with small acreage but not a horse in site !
Looked up the bylaws and it seems they’re stricter there I’d be looking for a property zoned agricultural ?
I have small acreage here with horses on our property so that’s a must for me .
If I have any further questions I’d love to shoot you a message if that’s ok with you 😊

Thanks again

Howefamily

Absolutely, anytime :-)

Flogger

I dont think a property has to be zoned agricultural to be able to keep horses.
If you are in a town you will be restricred by town bylaws though

As to the weather. It is nothing at all like scilly describes but yes we did have a bad snow st9rm 14 years ago which she asks everyone to google

scilly

Yes, I do mention White Juan, and ask people to google it because I don't have the words to describe ........ but it is because it DID happen and it was NOT a once in a 100 year event.

Therefore it is an event to think about or remember when people say "it doesn't snow hard here.

And, yes, someone always seems to make a sneering remark.


FWIW ............ more snow fell over 2 or 3 days in both 2015 and 2017 than fell in White Juan although that was only in 1 day.

So ............ it was not a once off. Heavy snow falls have and do occur.

I've even been there for some around Christmas or January.

I have been going regularly to NS since my first visit in 1970.

We missed White Juan by about 3 weeks, after having a heart-breaking visit to the devastation that had been Point Pleasant Park after Juan's disastrous visit about 5 months previously.

BristolUK

I'm not in NS but not far away. It seems we're used to snow. But wherever you are it's all a bit relative to what the area is used to.

According to wiki, White Juan dropped a record-breaking 95.5 centimetres (37.6 in) of snow on CFB Shearwater, beating the previous record of 73.2 centimetres (28.8 in) set February 1, 1960. It also broke the record for the most snow in Yarmouth with 82.6 centimetres (32.5 in) of snow, surpassing the 67.8 centimetres (26.7 in) that fell on January 16, 1977.
So that's records broken from 44 years earlier and 27 years earlier.

Not 100 year events but still pretty far apart and freakish. You can see how freakish by how much previous records were broken.

Apparently 5 places in NS got 95, 82, 74, 66 and 66cm while Moncton got 61cm - 6th highest in Atlantic Canada.

Officially our winters are suppose to average 282cm but I remember reading that we've not had a winter as low as that in a long time.

We had a bad winter, in terms of snowfall in 2014-15 with big storms coming every 3 days. Some 'amusing' videos were posted on youtube
But that winter apparently triggered memories not of Juan's 6th highest dumping over two days but a worse winter from 1992 - 23 years earlier - when 160cm fell in three days.

I see Halifax had to get permission to haul off some snow and dump it in the harbour. Moncton has plans in place for hauling big piles away when needed.

So move to this part of Canada just after a record breaker and you'll not see another for between 23 and 44 years later.

I quite fancy the idea of living somewhere between Kingston and Hamilton to cut our annual snow by half, although part of the appeal is being near the lake and close enough to Toronto for visits.

But to be honest, however much snow falls, the city plows the streets quickly (and sidewalks on at least one side) and our "Mr Plow" comes along and shoves the ridge created up the length of the drive and out of the way, so not much actually changes from our heavier snowfalls. Life just goes on.

Howefamily

Yes, it snows and often lots in one day. Later on the snow blowers come out and clear the drives, plows clear the roads. Everyone goes back to work the next day and life continues. Its not 24/7. People get on with it, they are not sat in their homes all winter due to snow or rain.
I think you bring up White Juan so much because thats the only one, its not like you are listing constant Nor-Easters by name. I think you need to move on from it. Its like saying that Sussex is not great because of the storm of '87

scilly

oh

and if I don't stop referring to it?

Howefamily

It will continue to be mildly amusing

Lychee

Here's a different way of comparing the two:

When does the snow start to fall in Kamloops and Nova Scotia?
How long does it last? Days? Weeks? Months?
When does spring start? When do you start noticing spring blossoms? How long does spring last before it feels like summer? Days? Weeks? Months?
When do people start gardening? March? April? May? June?
Is the rainfall consistent year round or does the rain fall heavier during certain seasons and less in other seasons?

I tend to believe the seasons in Nova Scotia are quite different than the seasons in Kamloops, though I'm not sure. The two have very different climates and ecosystems.

Lychee

Also, here's a quick visual comparison:

woodworm

there is really not one answer to "how are the winters in NS" . it depends on the location and the year.
I have been on the South Shore of NS for 15 winters (well, not quite, I often leave for a few months, but I hear from the neighbours ...)
If I try to give you an impression of those 15 winters, I would say that winter usually starts after Christmas. There has been the odd year where we would have had a snow storm in November, but it would clear out quickly and melt. But after Christmas chances that it snows are high. Some winters do get a lot of Nor'easters (which are the bad weather makers) , and some winters don't. In late January or Feb there is always a real cold spell with temperatures in the -10 to-20 C range but it doesn't last longer than a week usually. Exception was in 2009.
One thing that is a plus , but that applies to most of Canada> more sun, more light, more blue skies than in Europe.
The killer is normally that temperatures fluctuate so massively. So if you think "wow, finally we have decent snow for going snowshoeing, temperatures go up, it starts raining on top of snow, then over nigh freezes into a slippery mess. 2 or 3 winters ago, this cycle repeated until mid April and seniors in our area never could go out for fear of breaking their bones.
South Shore weather is milder than Halifax weather, but gets more rain when others have snow. The center and North of NS get more snow. Cape Breton is very cold and snowy, snow doesn't melt until May sometimes, but I don't know many people who move there, but I do have a friend who grew up in Sydney and still lives there and she is whining a lot.


The Valley seems to get more precipitation and snow than South Shore , but since it's sheltered, spring seems to start a little earlier.
Springs> Not comparable to UK or mainland Europe or West Coast.. And for me the absolute worst season because it takes forever for plants to come up and leaves to show up. Sometimes trees won't be green until the end of May. But in sheltered areas , flowers start popping up from March on usually. Last frost usually mid May, first frost mid-late September.
Best months are July-October usually. November and December can still be mild and sunny.
sorry if this went all over the place, but this is what I can remember from a personal standpoint, not backed up by stats...

Howefamily

I cannot comment on Kamloops but for Nova Scotia, I have added my dates.