The Long John Index Service of Canada

Keeping Canadians Warm and Entertained since Mid to late October

So Long and Thanks for all the Mitten High Fives

Colin MacIntyre2 Comments
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Good Morning Bonjour Canada,

Well once again the Temperatures are starting to climb, the streets are awash in mud and muck, and millions of Canadians are being liberated from their Long Johns and Toques. This is the time of year when I’d be packing up the Long John Index for the summer, with eyes on coming back in October/November.

However, I wanted to let you all know that the Long John Index is going on indefinite hiatus, and will not be returning for the 2019/2020 Winter Season.

The reason? Babies!

Human Babies specifically! You see when i started the Long John Index 8 years ago i had a) a wacky love for winter and b) copious amounts of free time in the morning. I still love winter, BUT, I’m a Dad now; with an amazing almost 2 year old, and my wonderful amazing wife are blessed to be expecting another baby shortly. Turns out being a Dad puts a bit of a squeeze on your free time (and occasionally sleep). Fans of the Long John Index may remember that last winter ( 2018/2019) the updates were a bit irregular, and then stopped completely in February (about 6 weeks earlier than normal).

When I launched the Long John Index in January 2011, i never really had a goal in mind. It was always a creative experiment for me. “ Lets try a thing and see what happens”. I never dreamed that every winter for 8 winters I’d be waking at 6am, putting together an odd weather report, and connecting with people across Canada and around the world. ‘Maybe I’ll get a twitter shout out or 2’ i thought. However it seemed to resonate with a small but passionate group of people who enjoyed facing winter with a smile, and layers. Lots and lots of layers.

To all of you, Thank you for following this goofy website, for sharing it and liking it on social media. Special Thank you for all those who took that extra bit of time to send in an email as well. Thanks to all the reporters and producers for the interview requests when the temperature dropped.

Finally, Super Special thank you to everyone who told me that they actually used the Long John Index as a weather resource to help them plan for their day.

So Long, and Keep Warm out there,

Colin MacIntyre
Creator, Writer, Designer and ‘Chief intern’
The Long John Index Service of Canada
Edmonton, Alberta