Recently I have been travelling to several remote schools. I have occasionally made comments on the frigid temperatures I experience there. Some may think that's what our family is experiencing this winter, but don't be fooled! We are enjoying the benefits that accrue from living on the shore of that most Superior of Great Lakes! Let me illuminate my comment with two experiences...
On Wednesday, I headed out to Nakina to visit one of my schools. When I left Thunder Bay that morning the thermometer registered -16 (and not those piddly little Fahrenheit degrees either; these are the real McCoy, Celsius degrees!). As I travelled east and then north to Nakina, the thermometer descended to -31. Now there are several mitigating factors at play and all of them contribute to the more abusive temperatures. The climatic factors involved included heading north about 200 km, climbing in elevation (I don't know how much, but we cross the continental divide shortly before we get there, i.e. all water up there flows north into the Arctic Ocean by way of Hudson Bay.), and finally, I was separating myself from Lake Superior by that same 200 km.
Then on Friday, it was time to head home. I awakened up there to a frigid -37 degrees. My rental SUV started well enough, but the tires had flat spots ("They were square!" Yellowknifers would say. I remember square tires frequently up there in the winter, and I remember the small-rimmed vehicles would suffer frequent flats unless you put tubes in the tires. I wonder what happens to some of the new cars that have the large rims, but very low profile tires.). My tires clunked along for a bit, but in less than a kilometre they had softened and were running fine. And as I headed south, and down, and toward the lake, the temperature climbed until it was up to -19 by the time I got to TBay.
So that's what we describe as lake effect, the beneficial moderation of the winter cold (and the summer heat, too, if you must know!). And we appreciate it, although we still find winter plenty cold enough, thank you!
On Wednesday, I headed out to Nakina to visit one of my schools. When I left Thunder Bay that morning the thermometer registered -16 (and not those piddly little Fahrenheit degrees either; these are the real McCoy, Celsius degrees!). As I travelled east and then north to Nakina, the thermometer descended to -31. Now there are several mitigating factors at play and all of them contribute to the more abusive temperatures. The climatic factors involved included heading north about 200 km, climbing in elevation (I don't know how much, but we cross the continental divide shortly before we get there, i.e. all water up there flows north into the Arctic Ocean by way of Hudson Bay.), and finally, I was separating myself from Lake Superior by that same 200 km.
Then on Friday, it was time to head home. I awakened up there to a frigid -37 degrees. My rental SUV started well enough, but the tires had flat spots ("They were square!" Yellowknifers would say. I remember square tires frequently up there in the winter, and I remember the small-rimmed vehicles would suffer frequent flats unless you put tubes in the tires. I wonder what happens to some of the new cars that have the large rims, but very low profile tires.). My tires clunked along for a bit, but in less than a kilometre they had softened and were running fine. And as I headed south, and down, and toward the lake, the temperature climbed until it was up to -19 by the time I got to TBay.
So that's what we describe as lake effect, the beneficial moderation of the winter cold (and the summer heat, too, if you must know!). And we appreciate it, although we still find winter plenty cold enough, thank you!
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