Toronto has a reputation for free, quality public events, especially in the summer.
But if you have a thirst for adventure, you’ve got to come here in January or February – the coldest months of the year!.
““Cold “snap” is an appropriate term: when the temperature dips this low, things tend to break
– The Toronto Star, January 15 2009.
We’ve been experiencing temperatures of -23C (+) and if you factor in the “wind chill” effect the temperature exceeds -40C!
The above quote from the local newspaper was written this morning when the temperature has risen to a balmy -17C!
Still, water pipes burst; locks freeze shut; cars won’t start; people gladly fork over 20 bucks for young, hardy souls to take their dogs for a walk!
Do you like danger? Well, these are temperatures that can actually kill you!
Canadians are well equipped to deal with double-digit, sub-zero temperatures. We all have appropriate clothing and ALL houses and buildings are well-insulated and centrally heated!
In the downtown core, there are fully 27 kilometers of interconnected underground shopping complexes with (literally) thousands of stores. It is called the “PATH SYSTEM”. However, it is very easy to get lost in this underground (heated) labyrinth.
To people like our “Muffin” – Myriam, a former staff member (now in SE Asia) who spent a year in the Northwest Territories, -23C is NOT cold weather. It’s about the temperature that northerners consider buttoning up their vests! (“Muffin” got to be pretty “Macha” after her year in the far North!)
But a dog walker was confronted by a frozen latch on the gate of a public park. She had just purchased a cup of hot tea so she poured some over the frozen latch.
It snapped off! And she was in.
Cooling a beer on the back patio (takes about 3 minutes!)
Hey postmaster, hope your having a blast in the sub-zero weather. I was reading your comment on the cold there in Toronto and just had to say i spent a nice evening on the beach. It has been a little cold here in Perth of late though. It’s been another day in the high twenty’s and that’s a little too brisk for us Aussies. Though looking at your pics from the back patio has brought back sweet memories for me. Nothing beats putting your beer outside to cool down.
All the best
Ricky Nienkemper (Former staff member)