canadianplant

THe climate in my area seems to be somewhat of a mystery. Theres winters where the temp says its -30C outside, and I go outside, and that isnt the case. Also in the summer, it says its 40C ourside, and it isnt. After some searching I found the reason why.....

The first problem is the fact that most of our weather data comes from the airport, which is about 10-15km inland. My city is on the coast of lake supirior, and the lake seems to have a VERY large effect of our climate year round. Basicly, if your less then 5 km from the lake, your a zone 5. 5-10km inland is about a zone 4. 10-15km inland, which the airport is in, is zone 3. Anything around 40-60km fromt he lake, is zone a very cold zone 3. Lappe, just barly an hour and a hlaf drive away, is a zone 2, and has recorded -40C temps many times in my memory.

Also, there are the northshore mountains. A few hundred million years ago, this area of canada was the eastern shore of the inland sea, that stretched from the arctic, to florida, and from the alberta foothils to this area. Now, their barly 2 - 300 feet, with the main one, at 900 feet ( the only one at that night). The inportiant thing is, it surrounds the city as well. Basicly if your on the west/north side of these mountains, your colder then this side.

Fortunalty im about 5km inland from the lake, with a long, but thin yard, which seems to regulate the temps somewhat. There are a few micoclimates here. Ive overwintered wegelia unprotected. WIth MINIMAL topkill. Ive over wintered Fargesia Rufa bamboo here ( heavily protected), and it had NO leaf loss over the 3 months it was completely covered.