Half way through and still plenty of snow!

The end of March also brings the halfway mark of our time in Canada. At the end of March, we still have enormous piles of snow everywhere and we (well, the children) are still wearing snow boots and snow pants to school.

I have posted this photo previously, but it is handy to see again, as I'm talking about the deck further on. This photo was taken the morning after a huge snow storm and gives an indication of how thick the snow was. It was also perfectly smooth... not even the squirrels which regularly visit our backyard had walked on it. The lump you can see is the BBQ, completely covered. I think I've shown a photo earlier, of Lach standing on this lump, he can reach the roof of the house.

In our planning and anticipation about our trip to Canada, we expected cold weather and snow. It has far exceeded what we expected ... never did we think there would be this much snow! The weather is the main topic of conversation everywhere we go, especially after a large snow dump on Sunday morning, 30 March. It seems that we are about 3 weeks behind a "normal" winter.

Generally ... i.e. the situation for the last 5 years or so, the "talk around town" is saying:

- in February, the temps are around -5 - 0 degrees. Because that is (relevantly) warm, there is quite a bit of snow. You get the occasional day around -10 and below. The colder it gets, the less it snows.
- in March, the temps move to around 0 - 5 degrees, with maybe 1 or 2 snow dumps which melt quickly.
- in April, temps are much warmer and move onto being spring like .... around 10 degrees.

We are far from that this year! We had very, very cold temps in February, then heaps of snow in March - around that -5 to zero degrees mark, but significantly colder at night. Now as we begin April, the temps are moving to around 4-7 degrees. And yes, it feels significantly warmer. It feels warmer than a Canberra winter day, but yet the temps are comparable. I'm sure I'll still complain about the Canberra winter in 2015.

I find it interesting that Australia had one of the hottest summers in 2013/14 and the Northern Hemisphere has had one of the coldest winters. There have to be some parallels in that.

Here are a series of before and after photos. The first photo was taken on Sunday morning (30 March), then a similar photo taken late afternoon on Monday 31 March. On Sunday, we had over 10 cms; but the impact of a warm day and plenty of sunshine certainly cheered everyone up!

There is more snow predicted in about 3 days time (Friday), with many saying that it will be the last. The long range forecasts are then predicting temps around 10-12 degrees, so hopefully the scene will look vastly different in about 10 days time!

In order to get rid of the snow from gardens and your property, many people apparently shovel/wheelbarrow it out onto the street. That way, it melts quickly and is gone from your garden! With that in mind ...

We have a lovely deck (as mentioned earlier) but it has been unusable since we arrived. On one mild day recently, just standing near the door onto the deck was so warm. We realised that it is going to a great place to sit and enjoy the winter sun. Isabelle sent several photos last year of her family eating on the deck and enjoying a glass of wine on the deck ... we look forward to doing that also!

So following on from people actively removing the snow, I've set a challenge for the children: to chip away the snow and ice, so we can use the deck. They've taken to it with great enthusiasm, and some help from Tony and the pick axe! Again, some photos showing a timeline progression:

Attempt #1: you can see how high Lach is and how Olivia is standing on the snow. Lach stripped off the coat and beanie shortly after this photo. It was hard work!

They made a huge impact, as you can see below.

Attempt #2: Sunshine, 6 degrees, a second day of work and we nearly have a space for the table! Sophie embraced the warmer temps and the purchase of a new skirt was a little exciting ... but really, it was not warm enough for her attire. The children are keen to put the table and chairs on the deck, put on our ski jackets and eat out there... but we had to break the news that next they need to clear a path to the garden shed, which has just as much snow, in order to get the table out! Also, there is no way I'm sitting out there if I need to wear a ski jacket!

Sonia wondered how long before we would be barbecuing ... well, it is recognisable under the snow, but still a little while off being used!