It’s so cold here that when you build a snowman, you have to live with him.

Ski conditions are excellent but today’s high is -20° and the low is -29° Celsius.

For those of you in the USA, that’s a range of -4 down to -20 Fahrenheit. This is the forecast until Friday, so I’m cancelling skiing for now.

The coldest I’ve ever skied is -33° C (-27° F) and that was the year I bought a neoprene mask.

Nowadays, I don’t have that kind of commitment. My cutoff temperature is about -10°C.

Calgary lives at the 51st parallel which is just 2 degrees above the 49th parallel. The 49th forms the stretch of border between the USA and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia to Manitoba. So, obviously, temperatures can get much colder in Canada as you move further north.

Where are you? Which parallel do you live on? What does “cold” mean to you?

For your entertainment, I am providing the often quoted:

Official Canadian Temperature Conversion  Chart

50° Fahrenheit (10° C)
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
Canadians plant gardens.

35° Fahrenheit (16° C)
Italian Cars won’t start.
Canadians drive with the windows down.

32° Fahrenheit (0° C)
American water freezes.
Canadian water gets thicker.

0° Fahrenheit (-17.9° C)
New York City landlords finally turn on the heat.
Canadians have the last cookout of the season.

60° Fahrenheit (-51° C)
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Canadian Girl Guides sell cookies door-to-door.

-109.3° Fahrenheit (-78.5° C)
Carbon dioxide freezes to make dry ice.
Canadians pull down their earflaps.

-173° Fahrenheit (-114° C)
Ethyl alcohol freezes.
Canadians get frustrated when they can’t thaw the keg.

-459.67° Fahrenheit  (-273.15° C)
Absolute zero; all atomic motion stops.
Canadians start saying “cold, eh?”

-500° Fahrenheit (-295° C)
Hell freezes over.
The Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.

snowman from photos.com #104714682