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Hey Montreal,

How have you been?

I hear you complaining a lot about how cold it is. Like, you’ve been really complaining. An awful lot. It’s kind of getting me down. I mean, nobody likes it when it’s -20 and the windchill makes it feel like -30 or even -40.

Are you really sure you should be complaining so much?

I mean, sure it’s been cold for the past two months or so, but before that it really wasn’t so bad. Remember how warm it was in November? It was mostly in the positives, there was no snow. November 24 had a high of 18 degrees. You weren’t complaining then, were you? Or December? It got a little bit colder (with a few overnight lows of around -12) but we still had some pretty nice days. Heck, Christmas day it nearly 8 degrees. It was windy, but plus 8 on Christmas is nothing to complain about either.

Then the cold happened. Basically since the beginning January we’ve had lows of -20 before the windchill factor. It was pretty shitty. Looking at the forecast now though, it seems like the worst is behind us and the forecast is telling us that Spring is trying to push its way into our city. So what are you really complaining about? It’s March 10th today. So all that complaining has been about 2 months of harsh Winter.

I mean, it’s had its upsides, right?

Let’s talk about snowfall. This year we’ve had about 185.8 cm of snow. The average snowfall for Montreal is 210 cm. As far as I remember there were very few giant snowstorms either. In fact, the biggest snow storms we had this year brought in only about 20 cm of snow in a single day. Do you remember that time in December 2013 where you got nearly 90 cm in a single day? That sucked pretty bad.

So really, we’ve got less snow than usual and we’ve had no major snowstorms, but everyone is still complaining about this winter like it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened. Did everyone forget that we all own winter clothes? Or that hot chocolate is a thing? Or that we’re from Montreal and we eat Winter for breakfast?

I know you’re thinking that it’s hard to eat a season for breakfast, but anyone who has tasted the cold while walking in -20 temeperatures knows that you can eat it.

So it’s been cold, but there was less snow and we had warm temperatures for part of the holidays. What else did we have going for us this winter?

We had that IglooFest thing that all the kids seem to enjoy. I didn’t go mind you, but I’m told that people in snowsuits danced the night away even though the mercury had dipped below -20 (and probably felt even colder down on the water in the Old Port). But hey, if the kids want to dance outside all night even though it’s freezing, who’s to stop them?

There was Nuit Blanche about a week ago. It was mercifully only around -10 that night as it seemed everyone was running around from one activity to the next (many of which were free) in a desperate attempt to keep the Winter doldrums at bay. That was a pretty good time.

The Habs are doing pretty great. Carey Price is the best goaltender in the NHL and the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge is sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference. This might not matter to you if you’re one of those rare few who doesn’t follow hockey, but for the rest of us having a winning hockey team really helps take the sting off of a cold winter.

We’ve also got the ole’ “Underground City” which we all know is really just a glorified series of connected malls and office buildings. But guess what? Between the metro system and most of our city being connected by tunnels, most of us only really need to be outside in the cold for a few minutes while we wait for the bus. The rest of our days can be spent in the warmth of the metro tunnels or the underground city.

So really, we’re all complaining about those 15-20 minutes a day where we get stuck outside in the cold. It’s only been 2 months. We’ve had stuff going on in the meantime and Spring is already right around the corner.

Let’s just all take a step back for a minute and look and have some perspective:

• We didn’t get nearly as much snow as the maritimes.
• We didn’t get as cold as Winnipeg.
• Our hockey team isn’t the Toronto Maple Leafs.

See? We don’t have it so bad.

I love you Montreal,

Even when you’re being a little colder than I like, you’re still a pretty great city.

-Keith

Oh, if you enjoyed this, you might also want to read my “Winter isn’t so bad” article from last Winter: 5 Reasons Why Winter in Montreal Doesn’t Suck.

All weather statistics checked at Climat Quebec and The Weather Network.

Keith does all sorts of things here on 9to5.cc, he works with the other founders on 9to5 (illustrated), co-hosts our two podcasts: The 9to5 Entertainment System and Go Plug Yourself and blogs here as The Perspicacious Geek.