Canada has been experiencing record-breaking cold temperatures this month — so cold that the weather has been making the news. Want to know how the freezing weather has been affecting your fellow Canadians? Here’s a quick roundup of cold-weather news from across the country.
Ottawa became the coldest capital on earth
On December 27th, Ottawa surpassed Ulan Bator, Mongolia, as the coldest capital city in the world. It was–29ºC in Ottawa, three degrees colder than Ulan Bator.
Striking satellite images showed the lake effect over the Great Lakes
The lake effect is a phenomenon that occurs when freezing air travels over a lake, and water vapor is picked up and freezes, resulting in massive snowfalls. Recently, a satellite image from the NOAA actually shows clouds of snow hovering over the Great Lakes. Basically, there was so much snow over the lakes, it could be seen from space.
[Credit: NOAA]
The Bell Capital Cup, an international youth hockey tournament, had to cancel its outdoor games from Wednesday to Friday due to the cold weather. The tournament usually consists of a mix of indoor and outdoor games, but this year, for the safety of players, all games will be taking place inside.
It’s cold enough to break glass
Twitter user mrsdrpepper76 tweeted this photo from someplace in Ontario where, apparently, it’s cold enough for windows to crack without provocation.
I've been in some cold weather, but never cold enough to CRACK MY WINDOW. Sounded like a gunshot #ONWeather #Extremecold @weathernetwork #shareyourweather pic.twitter.com/NxBqUHPVH1
— 🏎🏁☃️❄️🌨🇨🇦 Cris (@mrsdrpepper76) December 27, 2017
Lake Erie is freezing up
Lake Erie hasn’t experienced a December freeze-up in nearly 20 years, since the year 2000, but this year, that is expected to change. While the lake has never experienced 100% ice coverage in the years we’ve kept track (since the 70s), it is considered frozen when every area of the lake has at least some ice coverage. Thanks to the plunging temperatures, that is likely to happen by the end of the year.
And so is Niagara Falls
The falls never freeze over completely, but Niagara Falls is nevertheless looking pretty icy at the moment, as many Instagrammers have attested.
The Calgary zoo decided it was too cold out to let the king penguins outdoors. So if you’re a Calgarian and made it out this week, you’re officially tougher than penguins.
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