Depends what part of Canada you go to. But be advised - the one-day record for snowfall in Alberta was on (IIRC) June 29th one year.

It is weird - a co-worker and I once flew to New Orleans from Calgary in December. It was 30 degrees below zero Celsius (approx. -22 Fahrenheit) when we left Calgary. The temperature in New Orleans hit 31 degrees Fahrenheit the night we arrived, and they declared a state of emergency.

But I vividly remember, standing outside the hotel unloading our luggage from the taxicab, how bitterly cold it felt. Being on the ocean makes an astonishing difference. <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

But we experience it too. My (ex) sister-in-law went to Inuvik, on the Arctic ocean (my brother was working as one of the town doctors there) and they went on a camping trip. She got up in the morning and was colder than she'd ever been in her life; she had her tuque jammed down over her ears, her parka hood pulled up, her parka zipped *and* buttoned, big woolen mittens - then her Eskimo guide walked out wearing a cotton flannel shirt and said, "It's a bit nippy this morning." <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I feel a chill coming on just reading your post. Brrrr!

Winters here in Chicago can get darn cold. It's the humidity that gets to me. Lake Michigan keeps our winters damp as it rarely freezes over. In fact, it's winter evaporation that has caused historic low lake levels in recent years as our relatively mild winters has prevented significant ice caps from forming. Anyway, I spent a year in Stevens Point, Wisconsin where I remember experiencing below zero Fahrenheit weather without any real discomfort. But here in Chicago, a damp 32 degrees (zero Celsius ) creeps into your bones and makes life miserable for those of us with aching joints. <img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Geez! Now I'm starting to feel lousy already just talking about it and it's only November! <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> It's going to be a long winter.