For most immigrants, moving to Canada is a move north. Winter here is longer and colder compared to where they were brought up. Even though they seem acquainted with this before they arrived, they are still taken a back by its harsh and bitter realities.
People never know what is really cold until they live in Canada. Subzero temperatures, unusual in most countries, are unremarkable here. Instead, people are concerned about the windchill factor! What is windchill? According to Wikipedia, windchill is “the felt air temperature on exposed skin due to wind.” That means the real temperature on your skin is much lower than air temperature! The faster the wind speed, the more cold the skin perceives.
Sometimes, wind chill touches -32ºC, yet the air temperature is only the -15 ºC. Don’t be deluded by -15 ºC on the weather forecast. It’s really a bone-chilling cold. The dry cold air wrinkles your uncovered skin, causing it itch at first; the feeling quickly changes to be a little bit of numbing. The cold bites your skin, penetrating to your bone, leaving an unbearable itching pain. It’s harmful. It could be frostbite. It is necessary to be armed from head to toe with hat, scarf, overcoat, gloves, layering clothes, earmuffs, long johns, thick socks, and low heel boots. These garments retain heat and prevent you from frostbiting fragil parts such as ears, nose and fingers. The low heel boots save you from falling on slippery roads.
Snow also is the unexpected. It is more particle rather than snowflake due to the frigidity. When you are caught by a snow storm or a blizard, these tiny sandlike snow gusted by the freezing wind hits your face, dramatically reducing the visibility. The wind blows the fallen snow to form drifting snow. It causes disorientation. It’s dangerous especially to motorists. Consquently, antifreeze windshield washer fluid becomes the necessity. But be careful, never spray the fluid and turn on the windshield wipers when going around a bend. Even the antifreeze fluid could be viscous in bittery cold, not mention getting mixed with powder snow. The frosted window blindfolds the driver’s eyes, and could result in a serious accident.
Snow could accumulate to more than 1 metre high. It’s common your car is covered with inches of snow when you pick it up after several hours of work. The worst is there is a thin ice shell under the snow coating the car. For this, a shovel integrated with a brush is a requisite. Coordinated with windshield washer fluid and heating system, the ice coat could be removed and the car could get a safe start.
Snowdrifts could become trap sometimes. Being stuck or having a break dwon in heavy snow is dangerous. So a bag of salt, a blanket, a flashlight, and a candle are indispensable. Salt could melt the snow and increase the traction. On the other hand, if you fail starting your car, a blanket and a candle could help you survive.
Fortunately, the government is relatively efficient in removing the snow. They pour a great deal of salt and sand before, during, and after a snowfall so that the snow in main streets could be melted immediately. But this leads to another unique phenomenon of Toronto’s winter, corrosion. Salt dirties our pants, rots shoes, and ruins roads. More seriously, it destroys our cars! Wheels scoop the sand and salt up, pitting the chassis. The slurry is splashed over the motor chassis by cars passing. Clinging salt corrodes tires, chassis, and body. It really damages cars. Only cars coated by antirust suffer less damage.
Does the above description sound horrible? Don’t worry about it. There are still a number of fun in winter. Snow makes Canada a famous destination for winter entertainmaint. It’s easy to find a good place to ski, skate and toboggan. Snow fields are children’s best playgrounds. Many cities and towns host winter festivals to add colour to life. Ice carving and ice sculptures produce an air of art and happiness in the boring winter.
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