to move up and down
Photos: Swan song in Belarus’s frozen utopia
Two swans swim on the Usiazha River near the Belarus village of Usiazha, some 55 km north of Minsk on February 26, 2013. (VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP/Getty Images)
Up to 3,000 flights already cancelled as ‘dangerous’ storm bears down on U.S. northeast
Schools across New England have closed and thousands of flights have been scratched as the Northeast hunkers down for a storm poised to dump up to 2 feet of snow. S
Toronto weather live: Ontario school closures, road conditions and TTC updates
A snowstorm that forecasters warn could be the worst in more than four years has moved into Ontario and police are warning of treacherous driving conditions
(Photos: AP Photo; The Canadian Press; John Richardson/National Post)
‘At the moment there are no rules’: Alleyway skating rinks graveled over then rebuilt in Montreal
Mélanie Cyr’s sons would throw snowsuits over their pyjamas and head into the night to flood the narrow skating rink in the alley behind their house. Then two weeks ago they returned home from school to find the city had dumped a load of crushed stone on the rink, ruining it after a neighbour complained about the slippery conditions. Another rink farther down the alley suffered the same fate.
“I won’t repeat the words they used,” Ms. Cyr said Monday of her three boys, aged 11, 13 and 15. “They were mad because it was a lot of work…. It was like seeing their work destroyed.”
With winter’s arrival, the city’s roughly 475 kilometres of back alleys, which have inspired writers and artists over the decades, become mostly snow-covered and deserted. Parents in at least one central Montreal neighbourhood thought they had found a way to change that.
On a two-block stretch of the alley behind Casgrain Ave. in the Villeray district, three homemade rinks popped up in December. The alley, running behind two rows of houses, is city property, but in the winter it is not plowed.
“There are many of us who want to make skating rinks, who want to take advantage of our winter,” said Sylvain Guilbeault, who for the second year created a rink behind his house for his seven-year-old son Raphaël. “A lot of children in the neighbourhood come to skate. Sometimes there are eight children skating.” (Christinne Muschi for National Post)
The Month Ahead: February
Depending on which groundhog you ask, we’re either in for an early spring or a late one. No matter: There are plenty of ways to keep busy this month, whether you’re keeping warm or welcoming the thaw: natpo.st/Xb3YCX
It’s Groundhog Day (again) and the rodents can’t agree when spring will come
It’s Groundhog Day — the day millions of North Americans turn to weather prognosticating rodents in the hope they’ll call for an early spring.
And Wiarton Willie, Canada’s most celebrated of all its furry forecasters is predicting an early spring.
On the East Coast, Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam was the first out of his burrow this morning to make his prediction to a worldwide audience via webcam, and sadly for those hoping for an early spring, the pride of Shubenacadie did see his shadow.
Stateside, Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil is generally regarded as the groundhog of record and his prediction this morning is for an early spring. (Keith Srakocic/The Associated Press; Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press; Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press)
Canada continues to shiver through record cold snap — and there’s little relief in sight
Canadians continue to battle a wicked spate of winter weather that has brought torrents of snow to parts of the country and sent temperatures plunging to their lowest levels in years. Just winter weather or “extreme weather” media hype?
Photo: Ice fog from the St. Lawrence river blankets Montreal as windchill temperatures hit -38C, Jan. 23, 2013. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)
A homeless man is covered in snow while sleeping on the Bay Street sidewalk in Toronto’s financial district, as temperatures dip to -25 degrees with windchill on January 22, 2013. (Darren Calabrese/National Post)
Graphic: Banff gets four elephants worth of snow
Banff’s Sunshine Village set a new record for snowfall this winter. The National Post’s Jonathon Rivait takes a look.
Cold weather could have saved Swedish man trapped in snow-covered car for two months
A Swede pulled from a snowed-in car claiming he had not eaten for two months had lived in the vehicle since mid-2011, media reported, as experts said the “miraculous survival” was theoretically possible.
The emaciated 44-year-old man, whose name has not been disclosed, was pulled from a totally snow-covered car parked deep in the woods near the northern Swedish town of Umeaa last Friday.
He claimed he had not had access to food since December 19 and had survived on snow, according to local police. (Photos: Rolf Hojer/Scanpix/Reuters)
It’s cold in Europe. So cold, a Swiss guy put a wood stove in his Volvo
Here’s an equation you probably didn’t learn in school: European cold snap + Swiss ingenuity = wood-burning stove in a Volvo. (Photos: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters)
Photos from inside the deadly European cold snap that’s killed hundreds
Temperatures touched new lows in parts of Europe, including Switzerland, which reported the mercury dipping to minus 35.1 Celsius overnight in the eastern Graubuenden canton, and the Czech Republic, where the town of Kvilda recorded a winter low of minus 39.4 Celsius. More photos here. (AFP/Getty Images;Reuters)
Groundhog Day 2012: Shubenacadie Sam predicts early spring; Punxsutawney Phil calls for more winter
This country’s first furry forecaster brought good news to winter-weary Canadians on Thursday morning, as Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam failed to see his shadow — meaning, according to tradition, an early spring is on its way.
The news was less pleasant for our neighbours south of the border, as Punxsutawney Phil — made particularly famous by Bill Murray’s 1993 movie Groundhog Day — did see his shadow in the town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. (Photo: Jason Cohn/Reuters)
Cold weather kills more than 80 in Europe; snow falls over Italy
Europe froze as the continent experienced some of its coldest temperatures in decades on Wednesday, the death toll from the weather topped 80 and countries battled to clear snow from roads and railways.
At least 28 people froze to death overnight in eastern and central Europe, while countries further west and south began to feel the effects of a cold front spreading from Siberia.
Snow hit Italy, which struggled to clear motorways and railways after heavy falls, and the French Mediterranean island of Corsica. (Photos: Reuters; AFP Photo/Fabio Muzzi; Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images)
Winter Solstice 2011: The shortest day of the year, and the official start of winter
Depending on where you are in the world, December 21 or 22 marks the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere: the official beginning of winter, and the longest night of the year. (In Canada, the switch happens either late at night on the 21st, or early in the morning on the 22nd; for those on Eastern Standard Time, the new season begins at 12:30 a.m. December 22).
