We may be in for a long winter.
Snow is on the ground in many parts of Langley. It fell on Friday night, accompanied by a blast of cold air that is supposed to be here until at least Wednesday.
The snow and cold weather make it more like late December or early January in these parts. In many other parts of North America, there has already been a lot of snow and cold weather, with perhaps the worst example being in the Buffalo, New York area, where six feet of snow fell in just a few days.
There have been many Grey Cups held in Vancouver over the years, due years ago (when all games were played outdoors) to the somewhat milder weather that is usually experienced here in late November. To the best of my knowledge, this year was the first time a Grey Cup game was held in Vancouver when there was snow on the ground. Snow in November is not unknown, but it is quite rare. Longer stretches of cold weather in November are also unusual.
The visitors who came to to this area for the Grey Cup may indeed have seen another side of the Metro Vancouver area that we don’t always like to brag about. When the sun shines here in cold weather months, it can be pretty nice. Other than a cold wind which is most notable farther east in the Fraser Valley, it can be pretty glorious on a sunny, cool day here.
Some of the same weather was on display during the first week of the 2010 Winter Olympics, and such weather can be very enticing to people who put up with very cold weather, steady winds and lots of snow for months at a time.
The dusting of snow did not deter minor football championship games from going ahead at McLeod Athletic Park on Saturday, and the participants likely enjoyed playing in the cold weather.
Last winter was quite brutal in many parts of North America, although that was not the case here. There were very cold temperatures in many parts of Canada and the U.S. for weeks on end, and heavy snowfalls.
All the long-range predictions I have heard so far suggest that this winter won’t be much different. It would be unusual, though, if we were in for a prolonged cold snap here. While that has happened, notably in the winter of 1968-69, it is very rare.
The cold weather does make some people think about whether global warming is real. That may be why it’s often called “climate change.”
Another benefit of the clear, cold weather at this time of the year is that there is considerably more daylight on days when the sun is up for shorter periods of time.
The days will continue to get shorter until Dec. 21, the first official day of winter. At that time, the sun will only be up for about eight hours. Then the days gradually get longer, but it takes about six weeks more to really notice that daylight is increasing.
To have more light for an extra hour or so, which is the case when the sun is up and there isn’t a steady bank of rain clouds, is a real bonus in late November and early December.
Maybe this clear, cold weather needs to hang around a bit longer.