Turning Day into Night

Our first snowfall this past monday in Niagara

I was reminded by my wife today, that there is only a month until the man in the red suit arrives...and still hoping to be on her nice list, I once again quickly agreed. It's amazing that we are almost through November already, given that the current weather has been quite pleasant...and until this week, a little unseasonable here in the Niagara region.

While we have been enjoying this, our friends in the Arctic have been havng their typical weather season. Once you've visited an area or been a resident for a period of time, it's not uncommon for an occassional check of their weather. Having been fortunate to travel to many countries over the years and having an interest in weather, I probably check the weather of various places quite often. 

For those who travel religiously to such golf meccas as Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, today it was 17C (64F) with partly sunny skies and almost 10 hours of daylight. Further south in the Carribean, in Punta Cana, Domincan Republic our neighbours are experienced clear blue skies. The high was 30C (86F) with a rain storm expected this evening after 11 hours of daylight. 

Sunrises can be surreal in Canada's north

Over on the pacific side of Mexico, Puerto Vallarta experienced a high today of 32C (89F) with the thunderstorm blocking their full moon tonight after 11 hours of daylight. Our local weather here in Niagara was a milder 10C (50F) with many sunny periods throughout our 8.5 hours of daylight. 

But before you start heading online to check out your favorite winter destination (and make a booking), I wanted you to observe some current weather conditions in Canada's north. Having returned from Rankin Inlet in Nunavut, a mere 8 months ago, I keep track of their weather more often than many other communities. Today's weather there, on the shore of Hudson Bay, consisted of the same type of sky as in Niagara...blue and sunny with some cloudy periods but the daylight lasted only 6 hours at that latitude...just shy of the Arctic Circle. Their temperature today was a -23C (-9F) and they are losing about 5 minutes of daylight currently each day. Here, in Niagara, we are losing about 2 minutes of daylight each and every day.

The scenery in Rankin Inlet is breath taking
even in the midst of total darkness in a power blackout.

Now, if you were to travel today, north of the Arctic Circle say to a community called Cambridge Bay, things were a little darker in many ways. At 69 degrees North Latitude and about 950 Kilometers northwest of Rankin Inlet, they have recently experienced a blizzard that lasted a couple of days. That has passed and today was partly cloudy there with a high temperature reaching -23C (-9F) during their 2.5 hours of daylight. The days are currently diminishing by over 15 minutes each day and soon they will have complete darkness, becoming night instead of day on the frozen shores of Queen Maud Gulf and Dease Straight.

The thing that is most astonishing to me is the fact that a mere two weeks ago, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut was losing just over 9 minutes of daylight each day which was the equivalent of an hour a week. I have been watching this closely as this may reduce my ability to photograph life about town in early January. The good news is that by the time I'm ready to return to Niagara, I hope to have 6 hours of daylight to work with..maybe more.

Photo opportunities abound on a casual trip around any town.

The bad news is...that at the Kitikmeot Regional Health Centre, I should be scheduled 8:30 to 5 ...with weekends off. A silver lining is we get an hour for lunch each day..so I may have to choose a different route home for lunch each day...if I'm to document anything with the camera. The good news is...to make the most of my last few days, I'll have to scout out my shots before, to make the most of the daylight before I return to Niagara. I certainly hope each weekend's weather will be clear and suitable to make the most of photo opportunities. 

The shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, is just a few weeks away...and a few days after that the days will get longer as daylight increases....again it will be latitude dependent. We'll tackle the saga of the arctic winds in a future edition as that in itself....is another segment contributing to the Nunavut weather...but something that affects life there much more. Until then, stay warm while counting down the days to Santa's visit.