It’s unusually cold here in Victoria, British Columbia this week – freezing winds, ice and snow. Our winters in the Pacific Northwest are for the most part wet and mild, so people are a little shocked and in disbelief. It got me thinking how much weather plays a part in our life stories. And yet we often forget to include these details when we sit down to write our personal history. My mother still vividly recalls how it was pouring rain when she got married in the tiny hamlet of Alert Bay, British Columbia. And I remember one Christmas when I was all of eight years old. My family lived on an isolated island near the northwest tip of Vancouver Island. Rarely did we get snow at Christmas. That year it started snowing after supper on Christmas Eve. I was delighted and so excited that I staid up all night looking out my bedroom window as my little part of the world turned white. It was one of my most memorable Christmases.
If you’re interested in making weather a part of your life story – I’ve discovered a great resource. It’s called the Weather Warehouse. You can get direct on line access to the most comprehensive historical weather database in existence. It provides United States weather details going back as far as 1902. You can also access international data off line starting from 1973. So let’s say you wanted to know what the weather was like when your Aunt Beatrice emigrated to New York on July 18, 1922. You can find out at Weather Warehouse. There is a charge for the service starting for as little as US$4.95.
Do you have a memorable weather story to tell? Why not share it with us.
Photo by Paul Keleher
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