Question for Canadians!

[the_wanlorn]

 
And by "Canadians", I really mean "any Canadians who happen to be from Newfoundland who are on my flist".

It's a really random question, BUT. Average winter, how much snowfall does Newfoundland get? How much did it get so far this winter? And what are the summers like?

Overall, I guess, what is the weather like?
 

Comments

[carlanime.livejournal.com]

Several feet, though we express that in cms. :) Seriously: here in central NL, we usually have snow that's above-my-knees if I sink in it, so about two or three feet; the edges of streets and driveways (where the plow piles it up) have between four and five feet of snow, and the edges of parking lots have hills taller than single-story buildings.

And that's exactly what we have now, *but* instead of that accumulating gradually from the end of October onwards, we got it all in the space of about eight days in January. Bizarre. And up until then we were having above-freezing temperatures. Also bizarre. Not, like, a degree or two above zero, either: temps in the teens. I was wearing sweaters instead of winter coats.

The summers start late (we frequently have snow into April or even May; I remember one year we went swimming at the lake in early June, and there was still ICE on it). But by mid-June the temperatures are in the 20s (celsius--I don't remember how to convert that). We get lots of sun, but we also get lots of cool wind off the Atlantic, so it feels cool (say, low 20s) even when it's hovering around 30--and that also means it's possible to burn to a crisp without noticing, so you have to be careful of that. Also, when you're on the coast it can be foggy in summer, but the sun is still reflecting up off the water, so again: you can burn without noticing it. Basically it feels springlike rather than summerlike to tourists, I think, which is why so many of them end up tanned or burnt without meaning to.
Oh, and even on a very hot August day, if you're on the coast somewhere and there are icebergs nearby it can feel *freezing* cold--it's the strangest sensation, you feel the sun beating down on your shoulders but at the same time the air coming in off the water is ice cold. It's *neat*, though.
The last two summers, the summer seemed both warmer and longer than usual, and we've been seeing unusual insects and birds--either they're blowig off course, or their habitat has shifted to the North.

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

The weather everywhere is so ridiculously bizarre this year. New England and NO SNOW?? WHAT IS GOING ON WHERE IS MY SNOW?!?!

That sounds so glorious. I'm thinking of moving to Newfoundland when I graduate and well, yeah, I want to know more about it from people who live there as opposed to my own silly ideas and what the internets tell me. ;-)

Geography-wise, I have no clue about anything, so forgive me if this is a HUGE duh, but do you live near St. John's? I kind of figure that, if I want to live in NL, I should, yanno, live there for a trial period, or something, and what's better for doing that than a doing Study Abroad for a semester, yeah? But, I mean, the only place I know of is MUN in St. John's and that's just because a friend applied there and I don't know anything about the actual area and I don't want to go to the study abroad advisor and be like "LOL MUN PLZZZZ" and then be like "Wait a second, this place/city sucks".

And oh gosh, I feel horribly dumb now.

[carlanime.livejournal.com]

I live about four hours from St. John's (well, three the way my family drive it, but I think it's supposed to be a four-hour drive), pretty much in the centre of the island. (I'm almost halfway between MUN and the other MUN campus at Corner Brook [where all the fine arts people go]).

I can probably dig you out a zillion links if you like. I'm pretty sure I have oodles of MUN and St. John's stuff bookmarked.

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

Oh man, links would be SO awesome!! Thank you!! <3!

[carlanime.livejournal.com]

I’m assuming you already have the MUN (http://www.mun.ca/) link. There’s also MUN For Artistes, aka SWGC (http://www.swgc.mun.ca/).

Here’s a tourism site (http://www.newfoundlandandlabradortourism.com/) and, since we’re being touristy, here are pretty pretty tourism videos on youtube: atmospheric clothelines (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CoR7C1NepQ), the Flat Earth Society (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aRFuguc7bk&mode=related&search=), and evocative placenames (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7B19bzRHEA&mode=related&search=).

Introductory pages: the weather office (http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/forecast/canada/index_e.html?id=NF), wikipedia’s explanation of George Street (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Street,_St._John's) (it’s as good as anyone else’s explanation, and appears to have been written by a sober person, which is a plus), the dictionary (http://www.heritage.nf.ca/dictionary/), and a slightly-boring but decent overview of the NL’heritage (http://www.heritage.nf.ca/home.html).’

My very favourite places: Norstead (http://www.norstead.com/); L’anse aux Meadows (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/4); oh, helle, the whole Viking Trail (http://www.vikingtrail.org/) is gorgeous. So is Trinity (http://www.trinityvacations.com/), the home of Rising Tide Theatre (http://www.heritage.nf.ca/arts/risingtideprof.html), and so is Twillingate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twillingate,_Newfoundland_and_Labrador).

Cultural things which might give you some insights into, uh...the culture (it’s late; I’m tired and my vocabulary is shrinking): George St. TV (http://www.thecomedynetwork.ca/servlet/an/comedy/2/20051017/TCN_Shows_GeorgeStTV/?hub=ComedyAllPrograms); Joanne Soper-Cook (http://flankerpress.com/joannesopercook/) (local slash author--no, really, she also writes slash); Great Big Sea (http://www.greatbigsea.com/); Figgy Duff (http://www.ambermusic.ca/artist_figgyduff.htm); Wayne Johnston (http://waynejohnston.ca/) and Codco (http://www.heritage.nf.ca/arts/codcoprof.html).

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

So, on a scale of 1 to awesome, you are OFF THE CHARTS!!

When I started reading wikipedia the other day (because, yanno, what's easier to find than stuff on Wikipedia and college websites?), I was all excited because suddenly a WHOLE BUNCH of my favorite GBS songs made SO MUCH MORE SENSE. :-D

[carlanime.livejournal.com]

I always forget people who aren't from here must already know some of this stuff, in an oblique way, through GBS. And through This Hour Has 22 Minutes, I suppose.

[carlanime.livejournal.com]

In St. John’s, assuming you survive George Street, there’s the Rooms (http://www.therooms.ca/), home of...artistic thingies (some of which beg to be made fun of, but I try to do so quietly); Shakespeare by the Sea (http://www.nfld.com/~sbts/); Fred’s (http://www.freds.nf.ca/), where you will be unable to resist going broke buying local music; hey, I just remembered, the Scope (http://thescope.ca/?p=298) had a list of cheap bars and stuff; there’s Bowring Park, where I expect you to say hello to Peter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowring_Park%2C_St._John%27s) for me (shut up, it’s a tradition from my childhood); there’s the Classic Cafe East (http://www.classiccafeeast.com/), which is *not* the same Classic Cafe that used to be the one of the best places *ever* to go for breakfast when you’d slept in past noon, but it’s still okay; there’s the Leyton Gallery (http://www.theleytongallery.com/about.html) (there are lots of art galleries, but the owner of that one is one of the nicest women in the world, so if you *must* buy art, buy it there); there’s the City of St. John’s (http://www.stjohns.ca/index.jsp) webpage, and the links to “Service Interruptions” and “Where is my Snow Plow?” tell you a lot about how efficient the city council is, though to get the *full* impact you need to watch them screaming at each other on local television; there’s the obligatory Haunted Hike (http://www.hauntedhike.com/), run by a guy I find oddly attractive, but kindly don’t share that info if you go on the hike; there’s Signal Hill (http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/nl/signalhill/index_e.asp), which every now and again a tourist blows off of (and they never find the bodies).

Local news links: the Independent (http://www.theindependent.ca/); CBC NL (http://www.cbc.ca/nl/); the Telegram (http://www.thetelegram.com/); NTV (http://www.ntv.ca/); VOCM (http://www.vocm.com/).

And I did a prior lj post on Newfoundland and Labrador (http://carlanime.livejournal.com/214928.html#cutid1), which has more links.

[speedking162.livejournal.com]

Can I add you, please? ^_^

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

Of course!! I always welcome new people with open arms and apple crumble!

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

Also, do I know you from somewhere? Just out of curiosity. ;-)

[speedking162.livejournal.com]

Not that I know of!