It's not surprising that a product built on weather trivia would see continued success in our weather-obsessed nation.
Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips recently finished putting together the 22nd edition of his popular Canadian Weather Trivia Calendar and says he's come to understand the Canadian mind when it comes to meteorological conditions.
"In this country, you can't not be a 'weather weenie'," he said. "We just seem to be obsessed with weather. We're always saying 'What's it like outside?' That's probably the most common line you hear in Canada."
Phillips originally created the calendar as a gift for Environment Canada volunteers and it took off from there, becoming the top-selling calendar in Canada. Last year 30,000 copies were sold.
The info-packed calendar offers up plenty of fodder for weather buffs as it lists a weather fact, anecdote or trivia question for each day of the year and features weather-related photographs from across the country.
The front and back pages are packed with even more climate information, weather records and safety tips. Phillips said he changes up the tales for every edition and still has plenty to tell.
"I have 25,000 weather stories in my collection and I have only 365 slots," he said. "It's never a problem. It's about balancing it and looking for the great stories and some of the weird stories."
Phillips said he knows he's dealing with savvy folks and aims not only to entertain but inform.
"I think Canadians are very astute about the weather, probably the most educated and informed people in the world about the weather," he said. "Part of the reason for that is that we deal with a lot of weather. You can't imagine that a day goes by without weather being a problem or an issue, or cursing it or blessing it, and that makes us better prepared for it."
Many of the trivia tidbits and stories in the calendar deal with extreme weather events and their effects on people -- good and bad.
Manitoba weather tales crop up often through the calendar's 365 days and this year 38 stories from the Keystone province are featured. Those include one standout tale for Phillips that happened last Jan. 31 when a Winnipeg teen led his younger sister to safety through a blizzard with 80 km/h winds and low visibility after their father collapsed and died on a Lake Winnipeg snowmobile trip.
"It's quite a heroic story, very remarkable," Phillips said. "What a true survivor he was. He didn't panic and he was praised for his coolness under very difficult circumstances."
jason.halstead@sunmedia.ca
