If you’ve been wearing extra long johns and mending frozen pipes, there’s a reason: you have just weathered the Yukon’s coldest November since 1942.
However, in Whitehorse it could have been worse, said Bill Miller of the Yukon Weather Centre.
To combat the arctic air flowing down across the territory there was a valley cloud running above Lake Laberge insulating the city.
The record low for the month was minus 41 degrees Celsius on the 27th of November, which was the coldest day recorded in Whitehorse since 1948, when recordkeeping began.
November first was the warmest day of the month with a high of minus seven degrees Celsius.
There was no rainfall during the month, but snowfall totaled 44 centimetres.
“We definitely weren’t the snowiest, but we were the snowiest since 1994,” said Miller.
There were no weather warnings issued in the Yukon during November, but an advisory was posted by Environment Canada for extreme cold, especially in Stewart Crossing and Ross River, where it reached minus 51 degrees Celsius.
Numerous problems can come with this extreme cold, said Miller.
“In the minus 30s it’s not too bad, but as soon as it hits minus 40 degrees Celsius, or colder, propane turns to liquid which makes it useless as a heat source so it becomes pretty chilly quickly,” he said.
“Metal also becomes brittle at that temperature and if you hit a bump in the road your tire can explode.
“I had a flat tire and then my jack broke because it was metal.
“If there is water in the gas lines, they will freeze … heating bills will go way up and, if there’s any wind at all, flesh freezes in seconds.”