In 1911 our grandfather came west from Ontario on a "harvester's special". He got off at Fort Walsh, where he found work as a cook and cowboy. We've lived in and loved Alberta ever since. Jewel of the Canadian West is an occasionally updated blog about Southwestern Alberta's people and places. The best corner of the best province in the best country in the world, I like to say. Welcome to The Jewel of The Canadian West!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Just Wait A Minute ...

... if you don't like the weather out here, that is.  Literally.  Last Sunday as we drove east we were enjoying +7 degrees C, a welcome respite (finally) from weeks in the deep freeze.  (I was even a bit hesitant to leave in the throes of a "big melt" because we have a !@#$-pile of snow out there just waiting to overwhelm our drains.)  It was still +7 as we started up the Brocket hill and get this, minus 18 C at the top!  A 25 degree C change in less than a mile!  And it remained at least that cold for the rest of the day.  Arriving back out here around 7 pm as we did, the evidence of the big melt followed by the "big freeze" was evident in the hockey rink formerly known as our driveway.  Now fast forward to Monday morning, with -23 degrees C at around 7am but plus 6 C predicted by that afternoon.  Could Buddha pull it off twice in twenty-four hours?  Sure enough, although it stayed cold all morning, at 1pm all the windows in the house suddenly fogged up - a portent of warmth to come!  The temperature skyrocketed to +5 degrees within a matter of minutes (another 20-plus degree reversal!) and the big melt resumed.  Instant defrost, out here style!