Hat-Trick

Last week was strange because the weather decided to change as though mother nature flicked on the A/C switch - one day it was okay (-20 or so) and the next it dropped to about -40. It was unpleasant to say the least. The cold snap lasted a couple of days through the weekend and today it seems to have warmed up back to the much more tolerable -20s. I laugh at the pre-Nunavut-Lily who used to complain when it dipped below 22 degrees in Ontario because it was too cold. If only past-Lily really knew what cold was!

I was going through the blog and noticed that our first blizzard of 2012 was November 8, and that was followed by 2 more over the course of the next two weeks. This year there is much less snow on the ground at this time compared to last year, but I feel it in my heart that a blizzard is coming. Soon.

It's not all based on feelings though - there's actually a "hat-trick" of conditions that usually needs to be met in order for a blizzard to occur:

1. Snow: there has to be enough snow on the ground that has fallen recently or is falling from the sky (or else there is nothing to blow around and cause the white-outs, etc.)
2. Wind: it's not a blizzard unless there's blowing - officially it needs to be 70km/hr or higher 
3. Change in temperature: someone told me this when we first arrived in Nunavut, and that is - if you see an abnormal rise in temperature...something is amiss.

That all being said, how come I feel like we're going to have a blizzard soon? Environment Canada is pretty much spelling it out in the long-term forecast!

See Friday's forecast? The rise in temperature, the snow and in the details it lists "Windy. Blowing snow." Boom. The trifecta of storm components, brewing around and waiting to be unleashed. We shall see if Environment Canada is right, but it's been pretty accurate since we arrived...

Let's see if the first blizzard of 2013 is going to be soon!
-L