Yep, our first real snowfall was late this year, mid-November. It will be a miracle if any of that snow melts before April of next year, because the odds of ever getting above freezing before then are miniscule.40°F is about 4°C, which, relatively speaking is tropical for a Canadian winter, lol. When John says -30, -40 or -50°C, that's jolly well exactly what he means, no mistake....and damn cold, temperatures which you in Oz, and I in blighty, thankfully, will never experience.
But don't assume that all of Canada is like this. I grew up in Southern Ontario, and that southern tip is actually further south than Northern California. RD. is, I believe, somewhere in British Columbia, on our west coast; and as cold as it is in the central and northern portions of that province, Vancouver Island, in the southwest tip of the province, is also very warm, although wet. SW Ontario had the moderating influence of the Great Lakes, and Vancouver the Pacific. Manitoba has the decidedly non-moderating influence of roughly 1500 kilometers of bald prairie to the west of us.
When I went deer hunting in southern Ontario in early November, it was a rare treat to have a light dusting of snow on the ground, making spotting and tracking deer much easier. Now...during the same calendar period here north of Winterpeg...it's a rare treat not to need snowshoes.
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