Extreme cold has hit Canada in January, including -40 °C temperatures (which, coincidentally, is also -40 °F, and if you don't believe me, just calculate it yourself using the formula °F = °C × [9/5] + 32) in multiple regions. Accompanied by heavy snow, the weather closed down schools and caused electricity shortages, reminding everyone of nature's might.
To show you what all of that looked like, we put together a list of photos taken during this frigid spell, and if there's one thing that stands out, it's the local communities' ability to adapt and persevere in the face of even the most challenging times.
This post may include affiliate links.
It's Cold Enough In Calgary Today That I Used A Frozen Towel As A Toboggan
Hehe I remember putting sheets on the line one winter, they froze solid so I decided to bring them inside and snapped one of them
Cute. There's a short video showing it in action at the link (BadWeatherKyle under the pic) which also clearly shows this is not from this year's cold snap (it's from Feb 2021). Not a biggie, but it bothers me when the post clearly says, "... we put together a list of photos taken during this frigid spell." No, you didn't.
Calgary, Alberta This Morning! Hot Water Freezes Faster Than Cold Water Due To The "Mpemba Effect"!
Remember that when doing this you need to be sure it's cold enough. Someone in Finland got splashed by hot water and a bit burned, because the outside temp was too warm.
Such a creative use of nature to create a mesmerizing photo. It feels like a celebration of science. Love this.
TIL that it's called the Mpemba Effect, and scientists have not been able to reliably, consistently observe it. It's named for a Tanzanian high-school student, but had been previously noted by Aristotle, Bacon (Francis, not Kevin or Wilbur) and Descartes, all of whom seemed to consider it a well-known observation.
I enjoy the fact that the person who discovered it is from a country that for the most part doesn’t get snow (Kilimanjaro, etc notwithstanding). Apparently he discovered it while making ice cream at a part time job while he was at school.
Disappointing, isn’t it? It’s such a great theory 😂 Seems that SOMETIMES it can be demonstrated, but not always, which points to other variables being chiefly responsible, rather than the water temperature 🫤
Load More Replies...This is not a picture of water freezing. It's water evaporating. The humidity is so low that if you force hot water into small droplets by throwing it in an arc, it will vaporize almost instantly. Also, the Mpemba effect has never been confirmed to be real. Even if it had, it has nothing to do with what's happening here.
In the middle of the month, a polar vortex was sweeping in from the Arctic through the West, while a storm swirling up from Texas was wreaking havoc in the East, leaving millions of Canadians facing snowstorms or severely cold temperatures.
At one point, roughly half of the country was under extreme weather warnings.
When Asked "How Cold Is It, Actually?" Show Them This
As a Canadian, I promise the novelty wears off pretty quickly.
Load More Replies...The title's missing one critical word for a Canadian post. Montana. This is in Great Falls, Montana. There's a video: https://www.krtv.com/news/great-falls-news/great-falls-woman-creates-sub-zero-art-display
Oh,that's just our Canadian nature. We're always willing to give a helping hand to our neighbour when we have a surfeit of something. We just send it over, without even being asked!
Load More Replies...My Thermometer Has Bottomed Out. Actual Temperature Is -44c
Dear Canada, although we appreciate your kind offer to share your cold weather with us to the south we have plenty of cold at this time.
Dear Canada. Living in Qld, Australia. Today it was 37 degrees (C) (100 degrees F) and incredibly humid. Feel free to send us all the cold weather you want.
Load More Replies...It was so so cold...for dayyys. I live in a basement apartment in a house...and even insulated, it was just so cold. You didn't even want to go outside either. I love winter...bur minus 40 was too much even for me lol
I can’t even imagine cold like this. I live in the very south of Australia, and people think it gets cold here - about the coldest it ever gets (in the populated areas, not counting mountaintops) would be -6C, and that’s maybe a few days in winter. The contrast is, Australia doesn’t manage cold weather well - central heating isn’t the norm, and insulation of houses tends to be poor.
There’s the key right there; your buildings aren’t built for cold, with appropriate insulation and heating. We know our climate up here & our housing is (mostly) built for it. Plus, we know clothing layering to trap air, which helps keep us warmer. Now, managing heat like you get in Australia? Oh, HEEELLLLLLLLLNOOOOOO. Can’t handle it.
Load More Replies...Here in San Diego it is going to rain AND get down to 47* on Friday! Staying inside....
Just Another Day In Calgary
I'm not into lashes but these would look really cool!!!
Load More Replies...The eyelashes are gorgeous, although I’m sure that is very uncomfortable.
Yeah, they're really pretty, but I'm not sure if I would like to have that natural look...
Load More Replies..."We've got really, really, really cold air coming down from the Arctic in the west. And then in the East, we have this really potent weather system that's coming up from the south," Jesse Wagar, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said at the time.
According to Wagar, in the wintertime, the country does get dynamic weather patterns, but these were "pretty unusual."
Clothing Outside In Calgary, Alberta, Canada
It's So Cold At Arrowhead Tonight That The Refrigerator Is Keeping Drinks Warm
Not in Canada, as the title of the article suggests. It's in Kansas City at Arrowhead stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs. My team
Was coming to say the smar thing but knew someone else probably had.
Load More Replies...Yeah this was at an american football game in kansas city.
Load More Replies...Pretty sure this is Arrowhead stadium in Kansas City a few weeks ago. Not Canada.
In most of the snow belt, vending machines that are outside in the winter have some sort of heating apparatus either built in or added aftermarket.
It's This Cold In Calgary
Well, that's one way to cool off hemorrhoids. I know, I know - I'll show myself out. 🤭
Well s**t. Looks like a shower instead of wiping is the best choice.
The video at the link is, if you'll pardon the expression, pretty darn cool. Makes it look like modern art.
"Some of the temperatures that we are seeing in Western Canada, not only is it incredibly cold compared to what we've seen recently, but they're record-breaking temperatures in general," Wagar added.
Saturday Omfg
Otoh Canada is getting closer to achieving room temperature superconductivity...
I guess getting a room temperature superconductor is a bit easier when you change the room temperature
Load More Replies...The wind, even a slight breeze, can make it feel MASSIVELY colder. I was outside two different days, with the exact same temps on the thermometer, but the wind on day one made it feel painful, and the next day there was no wind and it was a world of difference
Load More Replies...I don't care how weird it may seem, but I want to be in Canada right now. I had to haul out my Vornado fan because it's gotten warm and muggy where I am. And I hate it - gimme the chill! 😄
And, I have my Vornado set to heat (Massachusetts)...
Load More Replies...20 minutes up the highway from me. Believe me when I say you can feel this kind of cold even when you're inside your house!
Looks Like I’m Going Nowhere Today
Hey, your grandparents managed to get through that, uphill both ways and without snowshoes or socks! Slacker. 😂😂😂
Unless it's super cold, my favorite wintertime walk is right after a big snowstorm, especially after dark. Everything is so quiet, and pretty, too.
It’s So Cold In Canada, It’s Snowing Up!
It's light reflecting on some snow crystals in the air. The temp needs to be low enough that the snow will be in small prism like particles
Load More Replies...I've seen this before and I live in northern Indiana. Neat to see.
It's not. It's a light phenomenon called light pillars. When there are ice crystals suspended in the air, they capture the lights below them and create this look
Load More Replies...However, things are changing. Above-than-normal temperatures should begin to spread into parts of Western Canada beginning Tuesday.
While we're not looking at all-time, record-breaking warmth for January, the thaw should be pretty long-lived.
-50c / -58f Temperatures In Alberta, Canada And The Livestock Water Heater Can't Keep Up
I can't believe life stock is left outside!!!assuming they are breeds that do well in the usual cold. All our life stock are indoors during the winter months in ireland and we rarely see below freezing!!!
How do you even keep outdoor livestock alive in such cold? Do they have heated barn to hide? The water is outside, what kind of farmed animal is fine in -50c? I can only think of sheep.
They must have a heated barn. I know people who are dairy farmers in Minnesota, and their cattle are inside for 4 - 5 months of the year. They can’t believe that ours (in Australia) are outdoors all through winter!
Load More Replies...A WW2 merchant seaman told me about the convoys to Russia. A cargo hatch cover on his ship was broken, and couldn't be repaired. The empty hold began to fill with snow water, rain, sea splash. Pumps would quickly freeze up.. The fear was that the water would begin to freeze, and eventually form a solid block of ice, lop-sided due to the ship's movement, dangerous to the ship' stability. The only way they could keep it from freezing was to put on sea boots, and walk around in it. For hours and hours.
That’s happened down here in TX, usually only an inch or two. Our goat water took 4 days to thaw enough to use a hammer and screw driver. We get caring is sharing but, Dear Canada: Loads of love for ya BUT, we’re okay without the waking up to 28 degree. But thank you anyway.
We had a U-shaped stovepipe that would sit in the trough all winter. When it froze you went out in the morning and built a small fire in the bottom and kept it fed through the day, kept the trough mostly thawed even with -30f temps.
Does Anyone Know If It's Cold Outside Or Something?
I had a question: How humid is it in your room that the outlet can freeze like this, sometimes we have -38 - -42c, but this is the first time I see this
There's no insulation around the outlet in the wall, direct convection heating outside.
-38 Degree Windchill In Winnipeg
It's So Cold The Exhaust Fumes From The Furnace Are Freezing Up
I can't imagine what utility bills are like. And power outages? How does one manage?
Yep, I live in north Idaho and had to thaw my furnace drain at least twice a day during that fun little cold snap we just had. Then it's 48 degrees and sunny yesterday 🤔 Idaho for ya.
In Houston we had 36 hours around 26F. Then in thr same amount of time it got back into the 70s.
Load More Replies...Sure that's not a sewer gas vent? using plastic for a chimney doesn't seem wise.
By next week, an even stronger heat signal will see daytime highs sitting above the freezing mark as we start the month of February, possibly kicking off the snowmelt for parts of the country.
The Moisture From My Breath Froze On My Glasses
That's just so effing annoying. Foggy eyeglasses are supposed to clear after a while, but when they do that, you just end up waiting and waiting
Here's a tip to un-fog your glasses quickly: Put them over the slots that release warm air to unfog your windshield. If you're not in a car, any warm, dry air will do.
Load More Replies...This is why my late Dad would take his glasses off inside the house before doing farm chores.
That's the cold winter version of "the d@mned mask is fogging up my glasses!"
Glasses and goggles or glasses and helmets are the worst! As a motorcyclist, any minor temperature differential can cause fogging, and if it's cold enough, my glasses ice up. The only cure for it with a helmet is to open the visor and get my face cold enough to reduce that differential. So, I have a choice of not being able to see, or not being able to feel my face.
Yes, this is suuuper annoying. And it doesn't need to be any kind of super cold to do that either, anything below minus ten-ish degrees (celsius) always fogs the glasses.
The House And Vehicles Held Up Pretty Well Against The Cold Until This Morning... Literally Thought It Was A Gunshot
Where I am we play the "was it a gunshot or fireworks?" game. I guess in Canada apparently it's more of "is it a gunshot or oppressively freezing temperatures breaking the glass in my structure?" game.
A bullet hitting a house in Canada?? That would have to be a stray bullet from a hunter.
Id understand why people have glass doors in those temperatures? I'm from Poland in general it always makes me wonder. I need my doors to be solid
Cold temperatures do not make glass break. The problem was the frame that was not properly designed to allow for temperature-related expansion and contraction of the door.
Load More Replies...Then there's the nails popping loose sounding like an explosion. Great way to wake up at o dark thirty.
It's Cold Enough In Calgary Today That I Played Frisbee With My Shirt!
Is it true you can line dry clothes in that type of cold because the water will just freeze out of the cloth?
It simply freezes but doesn't dry - as soon as they thaw, you're back to where you started...
Load More Replies...My Door Handle Froze
The medal of the door handle is conducting the cold in, no amount of insulation is going to change that. The door system would have to be isolated somehow to stop this. From the picture that door is actually doing pretty good. You don't see anything along the crack of the door, which you would if it wasn't sealed very good.
Load More Replies...Canada-Suffering-Cold-Winter-Pics
This was frustrating (I live in Calgary). They sent out an emergency alert that buzzed on all cellphones in the city asking residents to cut down electricity use because 99.4% of the grid was being used. It warned against using appliances unnecessarily and microwaving instead of using the stove. Why didn't it say, 'and if you manage an office building turn off the lights."?!?!
An emergency alert was sent out across the southern province asking everyone to decrease their power usage because of the strain on the power grid or rolling outages would begin (in -40 and colder). People unplugged everything possible in their homes to prevent the rolling outage to prevent risk of freezing in their houses, while downtown offices/decor remained lit even though they were empty. It was disgraceful. P.S. people pulled together and lowered their usage DRAMATICALLY, preventing the rolling outages. It was an amazing response by our communities.
Possibly. But I'm not sure that purple tower in the background needs to be lit up like that. It looks more ascetic than functional.
Load More Replies...In Toronto I used to arrive at my office on Bay Street really early (6:00am or so) and they were still sweeping up dead birds that would fly in to the windows and die. This was all because they would leave the lights on at night. This was every day folks.
Emergency Power Alert
Most Albertans will look out for one another. Some jerks here actually turned on Christmas lights and stuff cuz "gubment can't tell me what to do."
Load More Replies...If Danielle Smith would stop blocking renewable energy sources from even being built, not much would happen!
Load More Replies...Some did. I know a lot of first responders. During the cold snaps, inevitably you end up helping remove a froze corpse from an alley or doorway. But those are not the people the government cares about.
Load More Replies...That's South Africa every day. Rolling blackouts of up to 16 hours total.
It’s Tough Being A Min Pin During Winter In Canada
At first I thought you meant the puddy tat in the background
Load More Replies...i know this is why off topic but, first, cute dog, second, why is there a tattoo on his ear? if anyone can explain?
It’s the microchip from the past. People gave these to their dogs so animal control could find the owners if he/she was lost.
Load More Replies...Winter In Edmonton, Canada
It’s Pretty Cold In Calgary, Canada. -32°c!
In Case You’re Wondering How Cold It Is In Edmonton Lol
Is Ramen the new Banana for Scale for cold temperature posts?
It’s So Cold That The Inside Of My Window Is Beginning To Freeze
Live in Kansas in U.S. couple weeks ago it was so cold (definitely NOT this cold!) But back door glass was completely iced over and windows had ice all around the edge of the windows! It was crazy! I could NOT imagine living there! No offense Canadians but your a tad bit Cray Cray 🤣🙃🙃🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
I'm also in Kansas. I didn't leave my house for a few days. Hopefully that's the last of that we see for a long while
Load More Replies...Ha! When I was a kid in the UK we only had single glazed windows and no heating in bedrooms, so ice on the inside was not unusual. I discovered that contrary to popular belief there are other substances than diamond that can scratch glass, including ice. I left a great animal-claw-like scratch on the inside of my window with my fingernails that remained there for many years afterwards.
This is what my double paned windows do every winter. Sometimes I open them to get some fresh air in (on a relatively warmer day). But when I do that it melts the snow, then turns to ice when I close the window and it remains frozen shut until spring.
Fast Chargers Stop Working In Yellowknife Due To Cold Weather
My understanding is that electricity has less resistance in cold. Batteries on the other hand perform worse.
Yes but components have an min max temp range to stay inside tolerances. I've had the opposite, working in Marrakesh during a heat wave my cordless drill wouldn't charge or work. It got to hot. We had to keep it in a walk in fridge in the kitchen of the hotel. use it till it stopped working and then put it back.
Load More Replies...Ban fossil fuels and stay home with your electric space heater during a cold snap. What could go wrong.
Fast chargers need batteries that are ready to be fast charged. So the battery needs to be prepared (heated up) ... unless you were using your sat nav to navigate here the car is not ready to be fast charged.
I imagine most chargers have reduced performance as well as batteries. Sure do wish the big heads would've refined hybrid tech instead of demanding immediate electric switch.
We are talking very extreme here, even a petrol car would struggle, in cold climates we added a bit of petrol to diesel so it didn't freeze. Many day to day drivers have to be pre heated in very cold climates. 95% of us don't even get close to theses extremes. The solution would be to put the chargers indoors so they stay warmer. If you look at most consumer electronics it rated to around -10 to + 45°C
Load More Replies...Extreme Cold Warning: Record Power Use Triggers Grid Alert | Spike In Ems Calls For Cold-Related Emergencies
I think if I lived in Canada right now we would never leave our house, live off canned goods if needed. And I think we’d all sleep in one bed to share warmth. I would expect schools and work to simply close, although my employer falls into the essential personal category, thankfully my role there does not.
I'm in Canada, and we were in the minus 30s and I just called my daughter out of school 2 days in a row. She walks about 25 mins or so to the high school, and I was like, nope. Too cold.
Load More Replies...The truth is this weather is not uncommon, especially on our prairies. I’m in Ontario and we have had weather like this. Granted, climate change is having an effect. We haven’t seen those temps in a number of years where I am. Came close a few weeks ago, -30C. Nasty!
How Cold Is It In Canada? This Cold
The colder it gets, the longer charging will take - or charging might not even be possible. Batteries don't do cold very well.
Load More Replies...Low temp in chicago a week or so ago: had 3 hour charging lines and basically a lot of EVs turned into immobile 'robots'
Bear in mind how incredibly new electric vehicle technology, design, and engineering are when compared to internal combustion vehicles, which (with their fuel technology and associated chemical engineering) have been refined and matured for well over a century now. Current EV stuff has gotten to the 'good enough for most use cases' stage that it seems to have reached a Tipping Point where it will be supported while it continues to get better and be refined to a more mature technology. Early ICE vehicles at a comparable stage of development had severe drawbacks as well.
You Know It’s Winter…
They do it here in the Netherlands as well, as soon as the temperature drops below 0°C (this is when water starts to freeze, 100°C is boiling water). For those who cannot identify the photo: It is the gas heaters heating the switch of some train tracks. Edit: The line is caused by several heaters in a row, think "camping stove"-type, with supply pipes and bigger gas tanks instead of the blue or red gas tanks. Here in NL you will have actual flames, too, but much smaller than on the photo.
On one hand I realize how annoying and possibly fatal black ice can be, otoh I always think of "Slip and Slide" commercial music when I see videos of people slowly playing bumper cars trying to drive over the stuff.
Meanwhile, in Barcelona, we are at around 20C in January (should be like half of it). Dreading the summer already.
I live in Calgary, and this was actually about 2 weeks ago. It's now 10:30 pm and 0C, and will be a high of +8C tomorrow (with a prediction of +14C on Wednesday). It was so cold that my car died while I was actively driving it. The battery and alternator just quit life, and I had to get both replaced less than two weeks ago. Now I don't even have to warm my car up.
When people in the UK ask why I left Canada, this thread is essentially my answer
So, question: before modern heating, insulation etc, how did indigenous people keep warm/comfortable/alive with that level of cold?
fires, Hides of animals to keep themselves hot, their houses were made so the hot air was recycled and using a good insulator, ig humans can figure out to live almost anywhere.
Load More Replies...So meanwhile I’m in Australia where it’s summer, and the weather has all gone a bit strange
Well, I’m glad that where I live in Ontario is unseasonably warm right now because my furnace shut down last week and I’ve been heating my house with fireplaces and electric heaters until a chimney guy can come in and clean out some blockages. It’s usually pretty darn cold around here at this time of year.
Czech here. While I would like to experience this weather at least once, I know that it would be a disaster. No one and nothing is prepared for this. Apparently, -20C used to be standart here 50-60 years ago, but -20c nowadays causes a lot of problems.We are not used to this.
Meanwhile, in Barcelona, we are at around 20C in January (should be like half of it). Dreading the summer already.
I live in Calgary, and this was actually about 2 weeks ago. It's now 10:30 pm and 0C, and will be a high of +8C tomorrow (with a prediction of +14C on Wednesday). It was so cold that my car died while I was actively driving it. The battery and alternator just quit life, and I had to get both replaced less than two weeks ago. Now I don't even have to warm my car up.
When people in the UK ask why I left Canada, this thread is essentially my answer
So, question: before modern heating, insulation etc, how did indigenous people keep warm/comfortable/alive with that level of cold?
fires, Hides of animals to keep themselves hot, their houses were made so the hot air was recycled and using a good insulator, ig humans can figure out to live almost anywhere.
Load More Replies...So meanwhile I’m in Australia where it’s summer, and the weather has all gone a bit strange
Well, I’m glad that where I live in Ontario is unseasonably warm right now because my furnace shut down last week and I’ve been heating my house with fireplaces and electric heaters until a chimney guy can come in and clean out some blockages. It’s usually pretty darn cold around here at this time of year.
Czech here. While I would like to experience this weather at least once, I know that it would be a disaster. No one and nothing is prepared for this. Apparently, -20C used to be standart here 50-60 years ago, but -20c nowadays causes a lot of problems.We are not used to this.
