Growing up out east, I was fascinated by the idea of a chinook, a warm wind blowing in from the ocean that would significantly raise temperatures in a very short period of time. I always associated them with Calgary, but it turns out they are more prevalent in Lethbridge!

The temperature started to rise yesterday and the wind to pick up. I was standing outside enjoying the sun when a tenant came up and explained to me that a chinook was rolling in! Today is incredibly windy and the snow is melting very quickly. My tenant says that if I am fortunate I will experience a much more dramatic chinook this winter, with temperatures going from, say, minus 15 in the morning to plus 15 in the afternoon, but even I don’t I can cross ‘experience a chinook’ off my bucket list!

Fun fact: chinook is pronounced ‘shi-nook’. The reason for this (and why it’s Shi-ca-go, not Tchi-ca-go) is the influence of the French-Canadian explorers. We (because I am a French-Canadian explorer) pronounce ‘ch’ the way ‘sh’ is pronounced in English.