Winter Has Arrived

Despite our wanting the warm weather to continue, it's inevitable that Old Man Winter will eventually blow into town and ruin everything that comes with warm weather. It not like us prairie folk should be surprised as it had already snowed here, but it was brutally cold here yesterday which isn't as common as you'd think for early November. However, it was bound to come sooner or later in this neck of the woods, and it seems that we got an early blast of winter weather to get us ready for what lies ahead.

How cold was it, you ask? Julien C. provides the details.

Low of -23.7°C at #Winnipeg Airport this morning breaks old record of -20.6°C in 1933/1966. Also 3rd earliest occurrence of temperature below -23°C since 1872 in Winnipeg. Earliest was Nov 3, 1873 and 1893.

— Julien C (@jjcwpg) November 9, 2017

If you're doing the math, it hasn't been -23ºC in Winnipeg on November 9 for over 120 years! That's a heckuva period of time between occurrences, so we might be in for one insane winter if it's this cold already. Looking ahead, though, we're back into positive temperatures next week, so maybe this is just an anomaly in the weather patterns?

Whatever the case may be, the ice-makers were out on the outdoor rinks this week putting down layers of ice in anticipation of future frigid temperatures. As long as the temperatures don't soar past 5ºC next week, we could have outdoor ice by December if the long-term forecasts are correct. With temperatures expected to hover around -8ºC, that will make for nearly perfect ice conditions for skating. I'd prefer it to be nearer to -15ºC so the ice is hard and fast, but I'll take whatever I can get as I've been craving a skate ever since slo-pitch season ended.

-24ºC is like walking into a blast freezer, though. I'm hoping we don't see those temperatures for a long time yet. Maybe Old Man Winter can stay away until 2018?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!