Can you believe the weather we're having?
It snowed on August 31 and all through Labour Day weekend and it was horrifying.
It's all anyone can seem to talk about, but who can blame us – even Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips said he felt bad for Inuvik, calling 2018 "the year summer was cancelled."
I haven't gone outside without a jacket since July. The tomatoes in my greenhouse plot won't ripen because it's too cold. Outdoor events are being cancelled and rescheduled, cancelled and rescheduled in hope of a warmer day that probably isn't coming.
What kind of summer is that?
Everywhere I go, everyone I talk to laments the abysmal weather we've been having.
It's an easy go-to for small talk, because everyone in town is collectively mourning the summer we never had.
It isn't just in Inuvik, though – my friends and family in southern Canada also love to talk about the weather, which looks like it has seen equally as extreme temperatures, just on the opposite end of the spectrum.
I can't say I'm not envious of the weather down south, but I think there is a feeling of unity among Canadians when we bond about the weather, whether we're experiencing -40C or +40C.
Canadians love to talk about the weather, and I am no exception.
In 2014, The Weather Network reported that Canadians love to talk about weather more than anyone else in the world, citing a report by Influence Communication that found weather-related news stories (and sports stories) dominate Canada's news headlines.
I also recently discovered a podcast called Canada Talks Weather, a podcast made by two meteorologists all about the weather forecast in Canada. Its tagline is "A podcast for Canadians' favourite topic of conversation" and I think that's very fitting.
There's even an article on the Canadian Immigrant website that explains to newcomers why Canadians like to talk about the weather so much, and how to engage in weather-related small talk.
These are just three examples that point to our collective fascination with the weather.
And given the brutal winter the Farmer's Almanac predicted we're about to have, I don't think the conversation is ending anytime soon.