i was at a double birthday party and i thought my friend the birthday boy had a few to many he started rambling about some stuff and then he mentioned about an article he read and thought it was a joke and he was totallly amazed. i did a double take when he said there was a desert in canada. he showed me the article and told me to look up info at home which i still am. this took me by suprise i just never thought there would be a desert in canada. i told someone else this and same reaction i gave, they thought i fell off the wagon. told them to look it up and they are fasinated by this.
my ? has anyone from here been/worked/lived/grow up/vacation there, not all of the above but in general.
and if u can share some info,feeling,pictures, whats it like is it hot or more dry humidty. what the towns are like i read in some articles there is a lake there that is a popular tourist spot. so if anyone can share something.

[djskrimp]

As a weather person, I tell you that it makes sense that Canada would have a desert. Look at the state of Washington: On the west, with all of the Pacific giving it all that rain, there is a full-on desert in central Washington State. Why? The mountains wring out the clouds and moisture, since the winds are almost always from the west/northwest. The moist are that goes up the mountain's windward side loses its moisture, and comes down the leeward side as a very dry and cold air, actually stealing what moisture there may be in the air on the leeward side. Same principle for Desert Osoyoos, in British Columbia.

Fascinating stuff; thanks for bringing it up!

I have worked in the 'Badlands' of southern Alberta.Ohhhh it's a desert alright. In many places, because it's mostly on a plain, a totally shadowless one.This is, even today, one of the best dinosaur sites and one of the earliest too.It is it's flat, featurless plain that is as desolate as the heat itself. Marages are intense and the horizon can completely disapear in front of your eyes.In the south there is a canyon that rips through and is over 300 metres deep. One can come upon it suddenly without warning. In it are oassis's that start then disappear like magic.
In BC. ,Close to Merrit and up to Kamloops and in the south interior are known as semi arid zones with many charictaristics of deserts including rattle snakes, 'scorps and such. These areas, particularly in the south, are heavily irrigated so you pop in and out of desert conditions rather suddenly. You can drive through the 'pass' with winter forest conditions snow drifts 10 metres high, then less than a hour later be in a semi arid zone with an entierly different weather pattern.

Yeah. Canada is hardly the frozen waste that some people seem to think it is.

~Josiah

[Keeker]

I didn't know about the desert either and I'm usually a know-it-all.

Send Bear grylls!

born and raised and in situ in alberta ive always known this. strange, the reaction you've garnered :S

I feel the same as Keeker, I really wonder why that hasn't never been brought up in school, or anywhere?

I have always imagined Canada to be the prettiest place at summer, and having the loveliest winter (enough snow and cold temps)
in the world!

But a desert..

Can you hear that?

It's my world crashing down.

I had no idea either but it isn't too surprising in a way. Considering the fact that most people seem to live near the coast/border something must've kept the masses from moving to the center. I usually assumed that the area was a bit like Midwest USA. More desert-like in other words but in a colder version I thought. Maybe a bit like deserts in Mongolia then.

I first learned about the desert-like area (similar to Eastern Washington, yes) at the World Expo in '86, which happened to be in Vancouver that year. The Saskatchewan Pavillion was likened to a grain elevator, and featured a film about Saskatchewan and its climate. I guess the Okanagan Valley could also be considered "desert", which includes a section of northern Washington. djskrimp's comparison to Washington State is spot on. Moutainess and green on the western side, dry and warm in the east. And excellent wine country.