Weather at Woodland Hills
The Highs & Lows
Manitoba is land locked and therefore gets colder than if it
was by the sea. Woodland Hills is situated just to the south of The Riding Mountain
National Park (an attraction in its own right) and the land is rolling hills as
opposed to the flat lands of the prairie to the South. The cold weather technically
rolls down from the North West but we actually feel the cold more from the South
West where the winds are bringing the weather from the mountains of the Great Divide
in Colorado.
This year has been very mild. The actual temperatures in previous years have not
generally fallen below -20C although they can plunge for a day or two to -40C in
January or February.
Is This Manageable?
Strangely enough, 'Yes.' We used to live in London and there when it fell to near
0C it was cold, an ache in the bones cold, as it was also damp. Here, the cold is
a dry cold and as long as you wear reasonable gear very easy to be outside for most
of the time.
A Land Full Of Seasons
The winter starts in late November and lasts until
April. April last year saw the most beautiful spring with crystal clear days as
the land awakened and threw off its blanket of snow. Summer can be warm, up to +30C
and the autumns we have had here are the most beautiful, stretching through the
months of September and October they are our favourite times for being on the trails.
And the really important thing: we have a large number of sunny days throughout
the year. The conservatory at the front of the main house is not heated and during
the sunny days draws heat in and we sit out there regularly throughout the winter
looking out over the lake.
So, late November through March is winter. April and May are spring. June through
mid-September is summer. Mid-September through late November is autumn. Probably
not so different from the north east of the States. Just a little more extreme -
as is the joy of living here.