This is Canada in the wintertime?

Yes, we are right in the middle of winter in Canada...which means...cold & snow!

A potetial major snowstorm is being forecast for the Toronto area by mid-week.  Although it anticipated to bring with it the largest amount of snow seen in this area this winter (approximately 30cm or almost a foot of snow), the media in Canada's largest city is making this out to be the end of civilization when it comes!

It has been a crazy winter and our friends on the East coasts of both Canada & the U.S. have had multiple snow storms this winter that have met or exceeded the 30cm amount.  While Toronto is usually spared the "huge" storms...we are part of Canada and these do happen. 

Over the last 15 years or so, it appears we have forgotten this, with one notable example being a big blizzard over 12 years ago where the mayor of the city had to call in the armed forces to "dig" the city out.  The rest of the country will never let us live that one down!

Anyway, here is a selection of quotes from various news source about the impending storm in Toronto.  no where else in the country will a snowstorm get this type of coverage...2+ days before it even happens!

Remember folks...this is only about one foot of snow in a Canadian city in the wintertime...however, these stories read like we are about to deal with some other major catastrophe. Snow does melt!

"Snowpocalypse, Snowmageddon, Snowtastrophe, Snowtorious B.I.G., The Blizzard of Oz, Shovelmania, snownado and snoprah""Ready the shovels and snowblowers: parts of southern Ontario are preparing for their biggest snowstorm of the season."

"Wild weather” is headed to Toronto in the form of the worst snowstorm in at least two years"

"This will be the first Major winter storm of the season for the Toronto area, and the most significant storm of the season for many regions outside the traditional snow belts"

"Drivers may want to avoid the roads Wednesday, as the city is expected to be walloped by up to 30 cm of snow before the morning commute."

"Environment Canada has upgraded the special weather statement to a winter storm watch Tuesday night and Wednesday."

Crazy Weather!

It is barely mid-January and the North American continent, along with some other notable places around the world, have been smacked by some crazy winter weather over the last couple of months...and winter still has a good 6-8 weeks to go!

Back in early December, parts of the UK and Europe were slammed with major snowfalls...London looked like Buffalo NY, with all the snow they had!  And speaking of Buffalo NY, they got hit big by snow resulting in people being stranded in their cars on I-90 for over a day...on a major highway going through a major city!

Closer to Christmas, once again Europe was hit with snow and freezing temperatures resulting in major airports across the continent having to close.  The Northeastern coast of the U.S. was hit with a major snowstorm around the same time, paralyzing New York City and closing down many airports along the Eastern Seaboard at the height of the holiday travel season!

Fast forward to this past week where it was reported that 49 of the 50 United States has some sort of snowcover (including Hawaii...which had snow reported on its mountains). 

More substantial amounts of snow fell in places in the U.S. also not known snowfall...including Atlanta which got a huge dumping of snow putting it's 8 snow plows (that's right only 8 of them) into overdrive---and a couple of those were taken out of commission after they slammed into each other because of the icy road conditions!

Overall, January in most of North America has seen typical amounts of snow and cold temperatures, however after a few mild and less snowy winters the last few years, this seems like a lot more to most people!

Let's hope the last couple of months of winter settles down and things look sunnier and warmer...because it seems you can't even go south to escape the cold this season!