Calgary’s location in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains makes the weather so changeable, it’s virtually impossible to predict. In fact, the stats show our weather forecasts achieve approximately 40% accuracy. So we use this easy rule of thumb:
Today they promised sunny and 15 (that’s 59 for you Fahrenheit folks). It’s 9 (48F), windy, cloudy, and spitting rain. But the other thing you’ll always hear about our weather is “If you don’t like the weather, stick around for 10 minutes”. It’s early in the day – there’s still hope…
Author Diane Henders 
I’m a little on the late side with this comment, Diane… hope things brightened up for you…
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Yes, thank you, they did! It never quite made it to 15, but it was nice and sunny in the afternoon.
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They say the same thing in Texas. “If you don’t like the weather, stick around for 10 minutes.” Only it’s exactly the same in 10 minutes, and you will still hate it.
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Ha! What a great line: “Only it’s exactly the same in 10 minutes, and you will still hate it.” Still chuckling!
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I wish it was hyperbole.
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Hah! You guys have GENIUSES compared to the morons we have here. Try 15%. On a good week. And we have the same saying, but it’s 5 minutes. 🙂
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Ouch. I think our guys have such a “high” percentage because the weather changes so many times in a day, they usually get part of it right. 😉
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As global warming continues there will be no more normal and predictions near impossible.
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At least we’re used to violent shifts in weather here, so it’s not any more bothersome than usual. I can only imagine what a shock it must be to people living in areas that “normally” have predictable weather.
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I’ve heard that Melbourne in Australia is called the city of 4 seasons…in a day! hehehehe.
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Oh, good, so we’re not the only ones. It makes life interesting, but it requires extra packing – I almost never leave the house without a coat, even when it’s +30C.
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Nope guess not..hehe. It sure does make one feel not so lonely then 😀
Over here the weather is quite predictable. It’s hot, humid, hotter or humid-er…lol
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As a displaced Brit it always confounds me that Canadians have the audiacity to criticize the English weather!
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Some nerve, isn’t it? 🙂 Though it sounded as if the English weather was just as crazy as ours this year. We’re just a bunch of whiners anyway. In the summer when it rains, I sigh and say, “At least when it snows, I don’t get wet.” Then in the winter, I sigh and say, “At least when it rains, I don’t have to shovel it.”
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I once read that you have a 50% chance of being right if you say the weather tomorrow will be the same as today. The weather in TX is so boringly similar that rain is a major announcement on the news channels. They go on and on about it.
Good luck with the rest of the day 🙂
Cheers!
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Thanks, Nigel – the sun did actually come out for a while, so they got part of it right. I laughed when I was in Vegas last week and looked up the weather forecast. It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever seen an entire week with “0% chance of precipitation”!
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So true, Mother Nature will not be predicted! My English Dad would say “mizzle” for misty rain, & I like my aviation hubby”s expressions “severe clear” and “mammata” (sp.?) for turbulent clouds with small boob shapes pointing down! 🙂
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LOL! That’s a good one! Probably the only documented time that a male has ever intentionally avoided something boob-shaped.
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They really shouldn’t call it a weather forecast when it’s just a guess, at best.
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Exactly – kinda like betting on sevens and calling it an investment.
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Great analogy.
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Hmm, I recognize that weather pattern…
When I lived in Canada many, many moons ago, I remember them saying it was ‘spitting’ out instead of ‘sprinkling,’ which is what we say on this side of the border. Was that just a Saskatchewan thing or do they say that in Calgary, too? I always loved that phrase.
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I’m pretty sure it’s a Canada-wide expression, but it’s definitely a prairie thing – it’s common in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. And I like it better than “sprinkling”, too. “Spitting” nicely captures the sense of disgust and outrage that accompanies a faceful of wind-driven precipitation. Or maybe we’re just crude. 😉
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Well, there IS that sexlexia condition of yours, so maybe you’re onto something.
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I take no responsibility for that one – I heard it from my parents!
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