They don't live as far south as they would like, either.
Canadians don’t live as far north as you think
131–137 of 137 posts
Re: Canadians don’t live as far north as you think
#132This is missing the point. People think of Canadians as tough hardy, northerners because it's -8C in Toronto and we've been having really nice February, last year it was like -20C all month. It's -12 in Montreal right now. It's still interesting to think about it but don't try to imply that it's not actually cold, bitter and rough sledding here because we're "south" of London. Because it's 8C in London right now.
The point is that many Americans treat 'Canada' as a bucket in which everything is cold weather. And yet the whole swathe of the northern states Minnesota, North Dakota, upper Michigan, etc. are _significantly_ further north and colder than where the bulk of the Canadian population is. I once had a coworker from Atlanta at our office in Toronto. Overheard him on the phone talking to his wife, gobsmacked by the cold,…
> It's a classic continental climate; summer heat here is as intense as that of many southern US states.
As someone who grew up outside Buffalo and lives in NC now, this is a big NO.
There are cold streaks (or polar vortexes or whatever the weather people want to call them now) in Atlanta and heat waves in Buffalo and these might cause temperatures to seem similar for a few days per year, but it is NOT the same.
The difference is that these cold streaks last for a couple days in Atlanta and for months in Buffalo, and vice versa for heat waves. Temperatures in the 20s (Fahrenheit, sorry) with dips lower are common for Buffalo all winter, but happen only for a few days at a time (and maybe once per winter) in Atlanta.
And same with the high temps -- temps in the 90s are expected from July thru the end of September in Atlanta, but its only a few days in Buffalo that are that way. Last summer here in Durham, NC, we set a record for days above 90 in a row that was in the high 20s, if not 30s (as in 20 or 30 days in a row). I very clearly remember that my second summer down here didn't even have nightly lows in the 80s. That just doesn't happen up North.
PS: Please forgive me for substituting Buffalo weather for Toronto. It's about the same, but I wanted to accurately represent my anecdotal experiences.
PPS: This should not distract from the fact that weather in Ontario is very similar to weather in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio and maybe better than Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, etc.
Re: Canadians don’t live as far north as you think
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also to note, Ontario experiences harsh winters because of the lake effect from the Great Lakes, but it is the exact same winter that Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Minneapolis and Chicago get. Toronto and Buffalo have the same weather essentially. Vancouver rarely receives any snow, and is very similar to Seattle (there only 2 hours apart). I was in Toronto last week and the temperature was in the 50s. The East coast o…
Buffalo is much, much more wintery in winter. Its a much better match with Sudbury or Sault Ste Marie. (By sheer coincidence, the American channels carried by cable provider Northern Cable, which serviced those areas, were from Buffalo, at least back in the day. It didn't much matter whether you were watching the local weather or Buffalo/Rochester from December to March; the only difference was the timing of precipit…
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Re: Canadians don’t live as far north as you think
#134A "fact" that usually gets thrown around is that 3/4ths (or more) of the Canadian population live within 100 miles of the US border. It's probably pretty accurate. https://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-Canadians-live-with...
Isn't that partially due to where the transcontinental railroad was laid? (Cue "Canadian Railroad Trilogy")
Re: Canadians don’t live as far north as you think
#135Hamilton, Ontario, the city where I live, is roughly the same latitude as Marseille, France.
Hi fellow Hamiltonian!
Re: Canadians don’t live as far north as you think
#136Re: Canadians don’t live as far north as you think
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
> British winters are similar to Texan winters Hmm. That's not so bad. What does everyone complain about? > but British summers are more like Alaskan summers You poor, poor people. Though they probably say the same about our 100F (~38C) summers.
Speak for yourself. Texas Winters with Alaska summers sounds awesome! The best summer weather I've ever experienced was 70-80 during the day and 60s at night. Absolutely perfect weather, until snow started to fall from November to June. If I never had to experience 100F heat again (excepting saunas), then I would die a happy man.
It depends on where you are in the UK, but in the south the average of a good summer is 80F (26C) in the day. It can get up to 90F (32C) in cities, though usually only for a few days to a week at most.