Generally speaking, the Yukon is considered to have a semiarid climate. But many times I have wondered who gave it this classification. There are several appropriate sayings that we Yukoners have when talking about the weather.
If you don't like the weather, wait fifteen minutes and it will change for you.
Any fool can be uncomfortable.
During the summer months, you can expect up to twenty hours of daylight per day. It never really gets dark during the months of June and July. After having to deal with an equal amount of darkness during the winter months we all, including the animal populations, go into summer mode. This means that you stay awake at all hours and cram as much living as possible into the summer months. We have midnight gold tournaments, baseball games, fishing derbies and what have you. Outsiders have a little trouble with the perpetual daylight, but we love it.
The climate around the world has been changing. As I am writing this, it is well into December and the thermometer has yet to drop to minus twenty Celsius. There is very little snow and Lake Laberge where I live, is wide open.
Expect to deal with fast changes of weather daily with a shower or two mixed in. Bring rain gear. Do no be cheap in choosing it as you will be in and out of it several times a day. Take every opportunity to dry out your camp. Even under ideal conditions, a sleeping bag will collect moisture. Carry a bag that is rated at a minimum of zero degrees.
Bring several hats, long sleeve shirts and a coat. I have been caught out in a snow storm in June and late August. I have also been out in eighty-degree weather as early as May. |
