Feb 14 2019 - Calgary City Teachers' Convention   It was an absolute pleasure to speak at the Calgary City Teachers'Convention today. I had the privilege of giving the opening keynote talk for the 2 day event, which is the largest teachers' convention in North America.   I had almost 2000 people in the audience for the talk. If you look closely at the picture, you can see me there, up on stage. Now it's time to fly back home from Alberta.

Jan 31 2019 - Polar Vortex   It was the wrong day to eat lunch outside...   North America is in the grip of another polar vortex, a dome of cold Arctic air that has descended down from the north. Many cities have been experiencing frigid temperatures, and bone-chilling wind-chills.   In Toronto, it has been freezing cold as well, with temperatures diving down below -20.   Of course, with temperatures that cold, a lot of people were outside demonstrating the effects of the cold. The most popular of these demonstrations is the old "toss boiling water into the air and watch it instantly turn to snow" gag.   Instead of doing that, I whipped up a quick batch of ramen noodles and left them outside for a brief period. The water froze quickly and the chopsticks were held, suspended in the air by the frozen noodles.   It's a fun trick that anyone can do at home in really cold weather. I highly recommend trying this with kids. It's fun, safe, and afterwards, you can thaw the noodles out and eat them!

Jan 28 2019 - Snowstorm Chaos in Toronto   An Alberta Clipper, combined with lake effect enhancement created chaos in Toronto, including a full shutdown of the Don Valley Parkway, the main north-south artery out of downtown. At first, I was teamed up with The Weather Network to help report on the storm, but on my way home afterwards, I found myself caught up in the middle of the highway chaos. It was like a post-apocalyptic scene. Snowplows couldn't clear the highway, people had run out of gas in the gridlock, cars were abandoned, and people were walking on the highway. I was also experiencing car battery trouble in the middle of it all, so I was struggling to keep my car from stalling. It was like a scene from a move.   In total, between 33 to 38 cm of snow came down in the metropolitan area.

Jan 26 2019 - Come Join Me On The Silk Road !!   Here we go... Come join me on the Silk Road adventure of a lifetime! July 20 - Aug 11 2019. Three weeks overland, crossing Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.   This will be my first time returning to the "Doorway To Hell" flaming gas crater since my Nat Geo expedition there, and you can come along! We begin there, then cross all of the former Soviet 'Stans! This is going to be a real adventure. Special thanks to Exodus Travels.   Link to the trip

Jan 21 2019 - Ice "Teardrops" on Lake Ontario   Whenever it gets really cold, I go down to the shore of Lake Ontario, to photograph the sunrise over some very cold and steamy water (It was -12C with a wind chill well into the -30's today). Today, the steam was OK, but the cool thing I found were these "Ice Teardrops" or "Ice Turnips". They form when icicles reach a body of open water that has gentle waves, as each wave passes over the icicle, it adds a layer of water that freezes in the frigid air. I'm always amazed at the shapes that ice can take on.

Jan 06 2019 - "What On Earth?" Season Five   Watch for me on season 5 of “What On Earth?” on Science Channel. The new season starts airing Tuesday, Jan 8th at 9PM EST. We investigate bizarre and unusual things spotted on satellite imagery.

Dec 11 2018 - Storm-Hunters on Prime Video   Six episodes of the Storm-Hunters TV show that I sometimes co-host are now available on Amazon Prime Video. The program is produced by The Weather Network in Canada, but now, thanks to the streaming service, it is available in the U.S. Canada and the U.K.   To watch, head over to the Prime Video site and search for the show. (Amazon Prime Subscription required).