I am I said

But, but, but, what about... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard_of_1977
Oddly enough, our cat disappeared in that storm, only to re-appear about six weeks later. Much lighter, blind in one eye, fight wounds, and with the tops of his ears frozen off. We figured he was stranded in a local abandoned factory until the snow melted enough for him to get out again.

dbd33

1977 was before even my time in Toronto. The event by which I measure the newness of immigrants is whether or not they remember the power outage or, for a weather specific event, the ice storm.

I am I said

Canadians one met around the world could be dated by their reaction to the question 'where were you when the goal was scored?'.
Almost as good as the time Ben Johnson outran Carl Lewis for Olympic Gold... well the first 24 hours or so.

dbd33

Ah yes, ice hockey, I can remember when that was so popular that most people in the office would know which team last won the Stanley Cup. I suppose knowing that now might be the litmus test for "old stock".

Partially discharged

Er, definitely not 'old stock' here at my end based on that question. An even greater test may be asking who won the Grey Cup last year.

dbd33

The Rough Riders?

BristolUK

Classic.

BristolUK

I always think that sounds like a competition for Seniors.

Pizzawheel

You can get an electric snow blower for about $300 in crappy tire. And you shouldn't really need much more in TO.

BristolUK

Given previous discussions I would think the snowfall would have to be so light that it would be relatively easy to push it with an ergonomic shovel anyway.

In my case it would also be kept in the garage at the back of the drive and I'd have to clear as much snow just to be able to get there and get it out that I could have done most of what I have to at the front by then anyway.

I doubt that sort of model would cope with the sort of icy boulder like ridges we get here.

It's another reason to move to that stretch either side of Toronto though. Or Kelowna.

dbd33

Toronto, yes. Either side, not so much. We're not that far from Toronto and this is a 4x4 truck (admittedly a Chevy) failing to get up the driveway.

BristolUK

But that's 'country' though. It looks it anyway.

It's just that I look at Kingston (I think) through Toronto and onto London (I think) and even around the corner of the lake to Hamilton and I see annual snowfall between half and two-thirds of what we get.

I always thought much of Canada (habitable parts) was more or less the same when it came to snow, with differences not particularly meaningful. Last winter put me right on that.

Shard

Tried to find a pretty snowfall map of Canada, and despite plenty of US examples, could not find one. Nevertheless, the stats in this table seem descriptive enough.

Average Yearly Snowfall in Canadian Cities - Current Results

Pizzawheel

Toronto is definitely in a low-snow microclimate. I live close enough in that a wee electric blower would probably be fine for my needs.

But as I'm a ripped snow slinging buccaneer I'll continue with me spade for now.

Siouxie

I found a map that could be played with to show snow depth etc., over some of Canada. You can find it here.