Barrie: home of cold, snowy winters and hot, humid summers

It seems many places are getting crazy weather lately. However, most of them are just flukes. Barrie's strategic location gets cold, snowy winters and hot humid summers. Spring is virtually non-existent. From about October to May, it's cold and, for the most part, trees, plants, grass, crops, etc, don't grow much. That's about half the year. For two of three of those months, it's bitterly cold. Don't forget, Barrie is in a snow belt.

An hour down the road in Toronto, it can be a few degrees warmer and free of snow most of the winter. Then we get a brief transition from winter to summer. Soon it's hot and humid with dangerous insects that prefer this area. Out of the whole year, there's maybe a month or two that I personally find neither too hot and humid nor too cold and snowy.

Usually by April, the spring thaw is underway, snow disappears and the grass starts to grow. But, this is Barrie. In Barrie, April snow falls (not showers) bring May flowers. A couple of times this month, we've had a nice, light blanket of snow, while in Toronto, not a flake to be found!

Who would have thought of winter injuries happening in April. My father managed to have a nasty fall due to the snow in April. Had it not been for the snow, he probably wouldn't be in pain and using a cane or crutches. Last winter, he took a nasty fall and fractured his hip. Due to the prolonged winter in Barrie, be prepared for more winter injuries, accidents, money spent on winter tires, winter clothes, boots, snowblowers, etc.

PS: As I write this, the East Coast, and even Eastern Ontario are suffering a winter storm to various levels of severity. I feel your pain. We get that sort of thing on a regular basis here in Barrie and Central Ontario.