Less than a Month...and yet a World Away!

It’s mid-January and already, locally, the days have started to yield more light. Leaving the camera store on the weekend, the sun was shining and still above the horizon after 5 p.m…and it just makes you feel more positive about everything.

Sunset last week on Kalar Road, Niagara Falls

We have had less than a month of official “winterdom”, but the milder weather of the past few days has excited many. The comparison of last year’s January weather to this current month is a “hot” topic of conversation. In fact, last year our weather started cold with snow in late November and pretty much stayed that way for the next four months. Even the famous ice boom across the Niagara River wasn’t removed until May…a month late!!!

Contrast that with this season’s early snow sprinkled with some bitter cold around new years. Despite some bone chilling days since then, a few flakes and snowfalls have led to much milder weather overall than last year. The next week for Niagara looks like this will continue.

There are several interesting comparisons when you compare our local weather, here in Niagara,  with that of Rankin Inlet. Firstly, our temperatures and wind chill factors are considerably different. As such, my warm (i.e. cold weather) gear is ready and waiting having been augmented to a degree. My time in the north, this time, is occurring later in the winter season and I expect warmer temperatures into the last half of march. I learned last time, however, that expectations in the North are seldom a reality. Having recently talked to staff at the health centre, they have had a series of heavy winds and blizzard conditions. It affects the staff and life, in general, in the town.

2008 Snowy Landscape outside Rankin Inlet

People are no different when they are locked into an environment for days on end, whether it is north or south. “Cabin fever” is something you can deal with if it’s recognized. The other interesting outcome of long term blizzard-like conditions is that goods, services and people are not transported as normally occurs daily. Shortages in the milk and bread sections of the local supermarkets in January 2008 were evident during our 6 day blizzard at that time.So the weather can definitely be a factor in the health and well-being of a community.

While looking over the weather data this aft for both my deck weather station (JCWX) at home

and the airport reporting in Rankin Inlet(CYRT), I noted a couple of other interesting facts. Here, in Niagara today, we had a sunrise at 7:44 and a sunset at 5:10. In Rankin Inlet the sun rose was 9:14 and the sun was to set at 3:23(if the clouds and fog allowed them to see it). More curious was the other stat shown clearly on both pages.

In Niagara we will gain an extra 1 minute and 52 seconds of daylight, while in Rankin Inlet they will gain 5 minutes and 5 seconds, that’s almost three times more daylight per day and this will continue to increase each and every day.

While it’s just a few weeks until my potential departure, the weather is but one aspect of the contrasts of the two regions. The climate, the people, the daylight…it’s a world of difference in both spots and hard to believe you remain within the same country.

Coming Soon:  LONG DISTANCES