Anywhere you live, it’s likely you’ll need heating or cooling; even on the coast, temperatures can get low enough that a furnace is a must to keep toasty, and in the Deep South life without air conditioning is almost unimaginable. Temperature extremes are hazardous to your health, so adequate climate control is essential to healthy living. Imagine a place that gets so hot and so cold that the temperature can fluctuate 80 degrees over the course of a few months; the place you’re imagining is Winnipeg.
Winnipeg is in the centre of the North American continent on a low-lying floodplain; it is far away from the temperating effects of the ocean or mountains. This means extreme weather systems will hit the city full-force; the result is an extreme humid continental climate, based on the Köppen climate classification system, which indicates drastic temperature differences between the winter and summer months. There are similar climates elsewhere in the world; somewhat famously, southern Siberia has weather patterns similar to Winnipeg’s. Siberia is where the former USSR kept it’s gulags, presumably because of the extreme uncomfortable weather in the region.
Winnipeg’s climate causes it to have four distinct seasons; winters and summers are long, and there are short, transitional seasons of spring and fall between the two. Spring and fall climates are extremely variable in the city; the highest temperature recorded in April was 34 degrees, while the lowest recorded was -27 degrees. Similarly, October has seen temperatures as high as 31 degrees and as low as -20. This variability means it’s important to plan for drastic changes to the weather, as well as to properly insulate your home.
Winnipeg is an incredibly sunny city; it sees the second most sunshine out of any city in Canada, which makes it a great place for solar panel installation. Precipitation in Winnipeg usually occurs during the summer months, and severe thunderstorms are the norm in the area. The winters in Winnipeg are too cold for any humidity to stay in the air, and the driest month of the year for the city is February. The changes in humidity the city sees can make it incredibly dry or quite humid depending on the season, so a properly functioning dehumidification system is essential for any home in the city.
Hot summers and cold winters mean Winnipeggers need properly installed air conditioning and furnace systems; without these things, the climate here is so severe that your very life could be at risk. Avoid seeing a breakdown in the worst months of the year; hire professional heating contractors in Winnipeg to install and upkeep your furnace so that you and your family can breathe easy in the winter time. The same folks who do that can make sure your HVAC unit is keeping you cool during the summer; make sure to do regular maintenance on both, so in the spring and fall you can switch between the two as fast as the weather changes. Winnipeggers are a hardy breed, but make sure to have a comfortable home!