air conditioning

[Mary Ann]

Pshemekan wrote:

> Most Americans and Europeans does not really now, how different is 
> climate between Europe and US. But let's take a look on the map: 
London 
> is as far north as Montreal, Canada (ca. 52 N), and Florida is as 
far 
> south as Luksor, Egypt (ca 25 N). So all Europeans on the list, 
while 
> thinking of weather in southern states -- think of Egypt, and all 
> Americans here -- while considering weather in Hogwarts think of 
> Canadian coast cities.

<vbg>  Have you ever been in Montreal (or Ottawa, or Toronto...) in 
the middle of summer?  There's a reason why most southern Canadians 
have air conditioning as well.  It's not so much the temperature 
(rarely hotter than the high 30s Celcius) but the humidity.  Weather 
reports have what's called a Humidex which tells you how hot it feels 
rather than how hot it technically is, and the humidex can be up to 
15 degrees hotter than the actual temperature.

Our house in Montreal didn't have air conditioning and it was a 
nightmare.  OTOH the air conditioning in our house in Toronto was so 
efficient that you could pack meat in my basement bedroom. <g>  
Certainly all the large Canadian cities have very hot summers though 
the humidity levels fluctuate.  It's also not unusual for 
temperatures to fluctuate 30 degrees C within 24 hours, as it did in 
the Toronto area a few months ago (I get weekly weather updates from 
my Dad in Toronto when he calls me on a Sunday night :) ).

I've lived in England for 8 years and can attest to the 2-weeks-of-
summer situation.  Take now, for instance.  May was nice and June was 
fabulous in my part of the country, but once July started the rain 
came and the temperature has dipped.  Typical.

Mary Ann
(who hopes next Sunday will be nice as she's having a huge BBQ)