I’ve mentioned my plans to organize my Friday AM columns into a book. Since climate change is on all our minds, I thought I’d post my December column in this space.
Friday AM has been a fixture in Salmon Arm’s media landscape for well over twenty years, produced by long-time editor and publisher Lorne Reimer. My monthly column has appeared for the past four plus years. You can find Lorne’s papers at https://friam.ca/.
I’ll start with an image of the atypical clear skies Victoria has been having the last weeks…perhaps a symptom of a changing climate.
Hi Sarah;
Interesting article. Here in Calgary we are in the midst of an unseasonably warm start to winter. November was the warmest and driest on record for Calgary. We still have green grass on our lawn and no snow to speak of. The forecast is calling for temperatures into the mid-teens next week, with no snow in the forecast until at least mid-December.
The local ski hills (Sunshine Village, Lake Louise, Nakiska, etc) are all open, but with only a handful of lifts and runs open due to the lack of snow. Normally by this date they would be fully operational with a good snowpack to start the year……when we drove by Nakiska yesterday there was still grass showing on most of the runs. Banff and Canmore are advertising hotel rooms at deep discounts; no one is going skiing and I suspect that a lot of places are going to be facing financial hardship if it doesn’t get better soon.
Our “local” cross country area at Bragg Creek has no snow and is reporting dirt and gravel on all the trails. We’re having to resort to driving farther into the mountains to find anywhere with enough snow to ski; Peter Lougheed Prov. Park has just enough snow to cover the ground, but even the trails along the continental divide are pretty marginal; normally there would be a lot of snow up there by now.
And of course, when we drive the 150km to find any snow to ski on, we’re then contributing to global warming by taking our gas powered vehicle on the road……
Hopefully this winter isn’t a permanent sign of things to come ( it IS an El Nino year which is making it warmer and drier than usual), but I suspect that what we’re seeing now may be becoming the new normal.
Hope you and Ken are doing well!
Peter