Visitors or residents who want a mild winter better look elsewhere, because as a recent online ranking showed, Burns Lake is just not known for that.
Travel company Expedia’s list “Cities with the Most Miserable Winters, Ranked” put Burns Lake at #15 out of 20 places across Canada.
Burns Lake made the list last year as well, and came in at #10 out of 15.
LOOK BACK: Burns Lake makes list of most miserable winters
The ranking, released earlier this month rated each location on one to five scales with snowflake, thermometer, and flame icons. Snowflakes denote snowfall amount, thermometers the cold or frostbite factor, and flames “The Great Indoors” that assesses places to stay warm such as cafes and shops. The more flame icons a spot received, the less miserable the winter.
Burns Lake received a snowflake score of three, and frostbite and Great Indoors factors of two.
In a note on the area, Expedia explained that on Feb. 11, 1999 “the weather station at Tahtsa Lake recorded Canada’s most snowfall ever in a single day: 145 cm! (That’s four-fifths the height of Wayne Gretzky, FYI.)”
Expedia added that residents cope with being snowed in by using snowmobiles.
The village’s Grapevine Pub and Alternative Grounds were noted as places to stay warm and cozy.
Terrace came in at #20 on the list, and can boast about its four flame ranking.
The #1 most miserable winter spot in the country was Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, which got two snowflakes, five thermometers and only one flame.
With just under 3,000 people, the hamlet of Rankin Inlet sits on the northwestern shore of Hudson Bay, and is known for its ice fog that sets in when the temperature drops to -40C.
The long, cold winter in Burns Lake might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but at least the sight of snow covered trees in January is pretty and reminds people that spring is only a few months away.
In Rankin Inlet, there are no trees, and the temperature remains below zero for nine months of the year.
Expedia’s ranking can be viewed here: https://www.expedia.ca/travelblog/cities-miserable-winters-ranked/