<p>So to prepare for next year I was wondering if you guys had clothing tips/advice in general for staying warm when its -20 degrees cuz everyone i know is like ITS TOO COLD UP THERE!</p>
<p>haha, where are you from.
i’d say get a pair of good boots, good gloves/mittens, a winter hat or earmuffs, and a thick jacket… optional would be long johns/leg warmers</p>
<p>the short walk to class can be hell as montreal is extremely windy. be prepared to be cold, but it wont kill you.</p>
<p>Montreal weather is going to be a pretty important deciding factor for me, i have lived in southern Africa basically my whole life and i’m so scared i’ll like literally freeze my butt off haha!</p>
<p>this year has been especially warm. Get a $500 Canada Goose jacket and you will be fine for the next 20 years or more (:</p>
<p>And don’t forget WATERPROOF boots! Not the designer kind where you have to coat them with waterproofing gunk every other day, but a low maintenance type. Someone posted here on a thread that she is the parent of a kid at McGill from Florida! The kid apparently has adapted well and enjoys Montreal.</p>
<p>@brown14 20 degrees in January would be a normal day in Montreal. I think the lowest temp I experienced was -25F. The city functions as normal, classes are held in all but the most severe snowstorms. The metro/subway is entirely underground and is always running. It is an experience and shouldn’t be a deterrent. During snowstorms, I liked to hike on Mount Royal or in Jeanne Mance Park and I was not alone. I was bundled up like a fireplug! After such a walk, we’d settle in at a cozy pub and talk about whatever.</p>
<p>Cotton clothing in much colder in winter - invest in wool sweaters to wear over a t-shirt and under your coat. Boots should have insulation and be worn with wool or wool-blend socks. Sock liners help too. Outdoor and Ski ski stores are the best places to look for cold weather supplies. Also, I think a scarf or neck gaiter is essential for covering your neck and lower face in the wind.</p>
<p>From my earlier post, you can gather that I like winter! Snow is great if you don’t have to drive in it or shovel it. I definitely prefer a Montreal winter to the suffocating heat and humidity of Houston, New Orleans or Florida in the summer. Just dress for it and enjoy it.</p>
<p>tomofboston- what did u do or wear to overcome the cold. believe me i love the snow too im just wondering since its a good 10 degrees colder up there at least so did u wear certain clothes or accessories…can u suggest something?</p>
<p>Some suggestions from a parent. Don’t focus on the huge, heavy parka, but think about a well-made moderate coat with helpful features. Under the coat is the important part–layers (wool, synthetics) over long underwear, not 100% cotton, but some sort of synthetic or silk or wool if you like or even a blend as long as cotton does not dominate. Look on line at Sierra trading post, I think that’s the right name; if you live near an REI you could try the various models there. If you wear long underwear under your jeans and several layers of shirts, plus waterproof boots with warm socks you should be fine. We bought two neck gaiters from LLBean and Landsend but don’t know whether they have been used. Thin warm lightweight wool socks (sock liners actually) covered by a warmer thicker sock are good too. Choose your gloves carefully. Finally don’t forget a scarf and a nice hat and you’ll be fine. Dressing warmly lets you enjoy the outdoors without suffering, but if you go with the lightweight layers plan you can adjust better once you are inside and you can also move around better when fully dressed, which helps you enjoy outdoor life. Also, try different boot styles and models if you can. Don’t feel you hae to buy all this stuff in August. The real cold season is Jan-Feb, so Thanksgiving break or even December break would be fine, though by then there is a much smaller selection. (synthetic long underwear washes and dries very easily, so you don’t need many pairs. It’s also very effective. You could try layering a turtleneck or sweater over the underwear, add a comfortable fleece jacket that folks wear in the tropics near Wshington, DC, for example, then cover up with a weatherproof light or medium parka and you’d be amazed at how comfy/cozy that is.) Good luck and think warm!</p>
<p>I have no worries about dressing warm for the winter months; however, I am curious about how people deal with going indoors where it is a lot warmer (for class). It seems like wearing too much warm clothing would cause you to be miserable during class. Where I go to school now, the climate control system is very bipolar, so that one day it will be freezing and the next day you feel like you are about to spontaneously combust. I hope its not like that at McGill…</p>
<p>@brown14
MsTalleyrand beat me to it. Sounds like good advice. Late Jan/Early Feb is the coldest time of year. The average high is 20F and the average low is 4F. In your four winters in Montreal, you may encounter maybe two periods of extreme cold, say -25F. This year, for example, Montreal is having a mild winter and there is twice as much snow in Washington, DC as in Montreal. But they still have 5 weeks of winter left, so who knows. You may want to look an the weather data for Montreal from Wikipedia, scroll down about a quarter of the way:
[Montreal</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal]Montreal”>Montreal - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>@puryeam
You need to dress is layers as MsTalleyrand noted: warm shirt, sweater, sweatshirt and coat worked for me. Indoors, you can take off the layers to suit you. I don’t remember having major issues with building temps, it was never too hot. I spent most of my time in Bronfman, a newer building.</p>
<p>Haha, this is a funny thread. Not to make light of peoples’ concerns, but weather is weather. Montreal is not Siberia, in fact its far from it. If you are from the northeast or the midwest, it will be the same but 1.5 times as much snow and 1.5 times as cold… manageable. If you are from the south/southwest. Just buy all that **** you see skiers wearing on TV. warm stuff for the hands, feet, body, head, and face (never underestimate the power of a scarf… those windy streets in montreal will freeze your lips off without one). if you’re from the northwest, imagine snow more than once a year, and just as many people driving as any other day, and imagine extreme weather. Montreal gets hot and sticky in the spring and summer, wet and cold fairly early in the fall, and freezing for much of the winter. Its very manageable, everyplace you will have to go is within a reasonable walk… you don’t have to drive in it, you don’t have to shovel it, all you can do is enjoy it and laugh at the cars that get plowed in. Just make sure to dress like your walking into a windy refrigerator when you go outside.</p>
<p>As for layers… another silly question but your concern is understandable. I know of some schools in canada where the tunnel system is attached to the rez’s so you never have to go outside… not here. There is a significant tunnel system under mcgill that allows you to go between a few buildings/classes without going outside… use this to your advantage both for time and convenience. Don’t wear snowpants Don’t wear 5 pairs of long underwear. Don’t wear 15 layers. Just cover the extremities, and wear a good coat and sweater. You will be outside for 10 minutes max, tough it out, after all, 40% of Montrealers commute to work on foot or via public transit.</p>
<p>LOL Watch this video of Quebec’s unofficial anthem:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH_R6D7mU7M[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH_R6D7mU7M</a></p>
<p>Mon pays ce n’est pas un pays, c’est l’hiver/My country is not a country, it is winter!</p>
<p>And this little ditty;</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEMk4K-kRBc[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEMk4K-kRBc</a></p>
<p>Enjoy the winter.</p>
<p>I have yet to see a winter in Montreal, and I lived there for 9 years. Back in '91, they’d have snow in early December… now, not so much. I was there last week and wouldn’t have needed boots (which are usually necessary in February, at least for slush on the sidewalks). Of course, my own defition of winter is more stringent than most. I guess, I shall lament like Francois Villon.</p>