We are halfway through winter(Feb. 3) so let’s have a look at the season you either love or hate. And as you probably have guessed Canada is one of the snowiest and coldest countries on the planet.
DID YOU SNOW?
Canada’s coldest temperature: -63C -the small Yukon hamlet of Snag got hit with a ridiculously frigid day of -62.8C.
Record wind chill: -91C – In January of 1989, Pelly Bay in the Northwest Territories recorded a record low of -91C with the windchill.
The most snowfall in one season: 2,446.5 cm -Here in the Atlantic provinces we get hammered with the most consistent dumpings of snow, but in the winter of 1971-72, Revelstoke, British Columbia saw over 24 metres of snow.
Greatest single-day snowfall: 145cm -Once again, BC takes the cake for snow records. This time, Tahtsa Lake in BC’s interior got hit with 145 cm of snow in one day. That happened in February of 1999
World’s biggest pond hockey tournament: Plaster Rock – The World Pond Hockey Championships take place in Plaster Rock, New Brunswick and are played on a frozen surface so big that 40 teams can be playing at one time.
World’s largest naturally frozen skating rink: Rideau Canada – Every winter, Ottawa’s Rideau Canal freezes over and becomes the biggest skating rink in the entire world.(a Breakaway could last for hours)
Polar bear capital of the world: Churchill, Manitoba – Churchill, Manitoba has a very cool claim to fame, in that it is the world’s most populous polar bear region. In fact, you can book a “polar bear hotel” vacation (I am still lobbying to replace the Beaver with a polar bear as our national animal)
The snowiest capital city on the planet: Ottawa – Lots of folks think Ottawa is the coldest capital, but it’s actually the third coldest in terms of mean daily winter temperature. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and Astana, Kazakhstan take the cake there, but they don’t compete when it comes to snow!
