The Ice Bomb Cometh
No one can now say I have not experienced a REAL Canadian winter. Even Montrealers were bemoaning the frigid temperatures in the week between Christmas and New Year. Apparently -38'C isn't normal, even for here!
And then the "weather bomb" arrived last Friday.
A "bomb" is defined as a drop in barometric pressure of more than 24 millibars in 24 hours. This mother dropped 35 millibars in 12.
Now, I'm no meteorologist. But that sounds BAD. Anything that will cause frozen iguanas to fall from the trees in Florida is bad. Basically, warm water coming from Florida head-butted the Arctic outflow, causing the millibars to plummet to record lows. As they dropped and the bars got closer and closer together, to paraphrase Johanna Wagstaff of the CBC (I love her), the air spun, "like an ice-skater when they pull their arms in to spin. The tighter they hold, the faster they spin."
Result: BOMB CYCLONE.
To be fair, Montreal only caught the edge of it. Gaspe will be digging out for a while yet.
I don't know exactly how much it snowed. I stopped listening to the news, as the commentators on CBC Daybreaks dire predictions only fed my desire to never get out of bed again. I DO know I shovelled 4 times in 2 days, and each time there was at least new 3 inches on the stairs.
Yes, I risked life and limb to clear the stairs for my beloved, who had to trek to school in this crappy weather! It was literally the least I could do!
Some of the accumulation was probably blowing snow to be sure.. but I'd say 10 inches total fell, conservatively.
Or, if you don't like that calculation method, we can also use the "Montrealers Measuring Guide" (M.M.G.). Aka, the humble 2 wheeler.
At first, I thought people were all nuts to leave their bikes outside, but figured out that they are actually M.M.G.s! Anyone can accurately tell by the amount of new snow on the seat (this blows off in the arctic gales, so is only a short term guide) and the level of snow over the wheels what the current and progressive totals are for the day and season, on any given street. They are everywhere! These innovative meters correspond with my with my less scientific "stairs method", but no shovelling is required!
Trés intelligente!
If you want an accurate long term gauge though, just ask your neighbour to go to Barbados over the holidays and leave their car outside. Sure, there is some risk it will be towed, but really, as the tow trucks can't even get up the street, the risk is minimal.
Based on THIS Subaru gauge from
near our apartment, we have had over a foot since before Christmas. I actually wanna see someone try and clear it. I'm betting it sits until spring, which will also help to calculate the melt times.
Speaking of nifty Montreal systems seen nowhere else, (making full use of what they have, a kind of winter permaculture!), here is one way that people prevent thieves from stealing their shite while they are suffering with their family in New Brunswick, or sunning in Cuba for the festive season!
"The Snow Stairs"
BRILLIANT!
Letting the snow accumulate actively stops anyone getting in without breaking their neck. And what self respecting criminal wants to shovel for an hour before making off with a flat screen TV worth $250? Although, faced with those stairs on return, some people may gladly give up their TV to have someone else clear the path to their door!
Speaking of which, I saw a man shovelling furiously today. His front door had the misfortune of being set back between two buildings, so the snow and wind combined to pile up a full meter of snow, 4-5 meters long.
As I went into the gym, he was back near the front gates. When I left an hour later, he was nearly done. Two upsides: he doesn't NEED to use the gym today, and his kids used the snow to make a fab ice fort on the sidewalk!
All in all, it was a great weekend to have nothing to do. I am trying to take the advice of Lynda's cousin, who lives in Calgary, and is no stranger to the frozen white stuff (he ice camps, and bikes year round. IN CALAGRY! Weirdo. LOVE YOU DOUG!). Anyway he said, "ignore the "feels like". It's just there to scare you!" Well, I tell ya what..it WORKED! I mean, like -14'C is bad enough... adding on the "feels like -28'C" is just mean!
It is supposed to warm up a lot today. Up to -2'C.. that's like TWENTY degrees warmer than the weekend! So things won't melt, but also my eyelashes won't freeze my eyelids shut as I trudge into a 40 km/h headwind up Rue Bernard on my way to buy more almond milk (why are we always running out of that?!?).
Cars will, however, still need to go into 4 x 4 mode to get into or out of parking spots. I have a feeling that it will take quite a while before my poor little frozen ears are free of the sounds of car and truck tires squeaking like the badly rusted wheels of a M.M.G., as they make their way over roads of compacted brown slush on the streets of Montreal.
So, I'm heading back to the couch
to watch some curling, and see what other famous people Lynda is related to! (We now have Hilary Clinton and Ryan Gosling. Oh, and Justin Bieber and Celine Dion, but we don't talk about those ones!) And her grandmother's ancestors pretty much owned what is now NDG and Westmount. I definitely "married up". In my family, I have found nout but coal miners, farmers and beer sellers! Oh and a cobbler and a "gentleman servant".
Yes friends, it's definitely time to Poke that Donut, before it warms up too much and I have to go be a productive member of society again!
Rester au chaud.