Geography and location
Contenido
Edmonton se encuentra cerca del centro geográfico de la provincia, a una altitud de (metros sobre el nivel del mar). El terreno de los alrededores de la ciudad es generalmente llano a ligeramente ondulado, con barrancos y valles formados por ríos, como el valle del río Saskatchewan Norte. Las Montañas Rocosas canadienses están a unos 220 km aproximadamente al suroeste, a unas pocas horas en coche.
El río Saskatchewan Norte atraviesa la ciudad y se origina en el Campo de Hielo de Columbia") en el parque nacional Jasper. Se vacía a través del río Saskatchewan, el lago Winnipeg y el río Nelson en la bahía de Hudson. Que va desde el suroeste al noreste y es alimentado por numerosos arroyos de la ciudad, como el Mill Creek y el Whitemud Creek, lo que crea numerosos barrancos, muchos de los cuales se han incorporado en un parque urbano. Edmonton se encuentra en el límite entre las praderas del sur y la taiga del norte, en una zona de transición conocido como parque de los álamos. Sin embargo, el parque de los álamos en torno a Edmonton ha sido alterado por la agricultura y otras actividades humanas, como el petróleo y la exploración de gas natural.
Green areas and the environment
Edmonton's river valley is the longest stretch of urban greenbelt in North America; It has the highest number of park areas per capita of any Canadian city. The valley is 22 times larger than New York's Central Park. The valley's public parks provide an urban escape, with styles ranging from full-service park to sparsely amenity facilities. This is the main green area of the city, which is complemented by numerous parks within the neighborhoods located throughout the city to offer a total of 111 km² of green areas. In the 7,400 ha, 25 km along the valley, there are eleven lakes, fourteen streams, and twenty-two large parks, and most of the city has excellent walking and cycling trails.[30].
The streets and parks of Edmonton are home to one of the largest concentrations of healthy elm trees remaining in America, which were not affected by the Dutch disease that wiped out a large number of these trees in eastern North America. Trees such as gray pine, twisted pine, white spruce, white birch, American ash, common maple, species of the genus elaeagnus, sorbus, tilia are very abundant. Other introduced species such as poplar, willow, alder cherry, Manitoba maple, silver maple, blue spruce, royal maple, red oak, and walnut are becoming more readily found. Three species of walnut have survived in Edmonton, the white walnut, the Manchurian walnut, and the black walnut.[31]
The Devonian Botanical Garden 30 minutes from downtown Edmonton and the University of Alberta campus includes butterfly gardens, Japanese gardens, native gardens, and nature trails.[32].
Neighborhoods
Edmonton has a variety of neighborhoods.[33] Downtown Edmonton consists of the Mall, the Arts District, Rice Howard Way Pedestrian Mall, MacKay Avenue, Jasper-West, the Warehouse District, and the Government District.
There are many neighborhoods in the city center. In the area north of the river you can find neighborhoods such as Oliver, Glenora, Westmount, Queen Mary Park, Inglewood, Central McDougall, Boyle Street, McCauley, Alberta Avenue, Norwood; To the south of the river are the neighborhoods of Windsor Park, Garneau, Old Strathcona, Bonnie Doon and Strathearn line. Several communities survived municipal governments' attempts in the 1970s to free the valley in agreement with all residents: these are Riverdale, Rossdale, and Walterdale Cloverdale.
There are also several suburbs, generally located outside the Beltway, and in extreme cases outside Anthony Henday Drive") (Alberta Highway 216). One of the best known is Mill Woods (often incorrectly spelled Millwoods), which is home to about 100,000 residents. If Mill Woods were not part of Edmonton, it would be the third largest city in Alberta, after Calgary and Edmonton.
Other communities within the boundaries of Anthony Henday Drive in south Edmonton include Riverbend (located between the North Saskatchewan River and Whitemud Creek), Aspen Gardens, Westbrook Estates, Royal Gardens, Sweet Grass, Blue Quill, Blue Quill Estates, Greenfield, Lansdowne, and Grandview Estates, with its transportation hub being Southgate Transit Centre. Surrounding the new Century Park are the communities of Yellowbird and Twin Brooks. New neighborhoods are forming in the south and southwest, such as MacEwan, Terwillegar, Southbrook, and Rutherford.[34]
Several transit-oriented developments (TOD) programs have begun to appear along the Clareview subway line, with future development planned at Belvedere (part of the Old Town Redevelopment Project).[35] Another TOD, called Century Park, is already under construction on the site where the Heritage Mall once stood (currently under demolition). It is estimated that this new neighborhood will accommodate 5,000 residents.
Metropolitan area
The Edmonton metropolitan area, the Edmonton Capital Region, is the sixth most populous in the country, with a population of 1,034,945.[3] This metropolitan area includes 35 independent municipalities, some located on the city limits and others several kilometers from it. These communities include Sherwood Park") (part of the municipality of Strathcona"), St. Albert, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc, Nisku") (a major industrial area in Leduc County), and the cities of Beaumony"), Devon "Devon (Alberta)"), and Morinville. This large-scale fragmentation has played a role in the development of the Edmonton region. Despite several attempts that have been made to merge the surrounding municipalities into the city,[36] or annex parts of neighboring neighborhoods,[37] they have not yet been approved by the provincial government.
Climate
Edmonton has a continental climate, with extreme seasonal temperatures, although its winters are somewhat milder than those of Regina "Regina (Saskatchewan)") or Winnipeg, both cities located at a more southern latitude. Summers in Edmonton are warm and winters are cold, with average daytime temperatures ranging from -10.4°C in January to 17.7°C in July. Approximately 30 °C is exceeded four days a year, and it drops to -20 °C for an average of 28 days a year.[38].
The highest temperature recorded in the city was 34.7 °C on August 18, 2008.[39] Some areas, however, such as St. Albert (northwest of Edmonton) and Sherwood Park (east) experienced temperatures as high as 37.7 °C on July 22, 2006. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Edmonton was -40.6 °C and occurred on January 26, 2006. 1972.[40] That was the only time since measurements began in 1953 that temperatures plummeted below -40 °C in the city center. Edmonton International Airport has occasionally recorded even lower temperatures since temperature monitoring began in 1880, although it is located 12 km south of the city limits, 34 km from downtown. This may be due to the absence of the heat island effect. The year 2006, on the other hand, was particularly hot in Edmonton, with temperatures of 29°C and higher twenty times throughout the year. Normally, summer in the city lasts from June to the end of August, and the percentage of humidity in the air is rarely high. Winter, on the other hand, lasts from November to March, although it varies significantly in length and severity. Spring and autumn are short and highly variable seasons.
Edmonton has a dry climate. On average, it receives 476.9 mm of annual precipitation, of which 365.7 mm is in the form of rain and 123.5 cm in snow.[38] Precipitation is heaviest in late spring, summer and early autumn, with February, March, October and November being the driest months. The city has also recorded extreme rainfall, such as the 114 mm of rain that fell on July 31, 1953.[38] Summer storms can be frequent and severe enough to cause serious damage, including powerful winds or tornadoes; however, the latter are much weaker and short-lived near Edmonton compared to their counterparts further south. Powerful tornadoes, such as the F4 that struck the city on July 31, 1987, are very rare in the area.[41].
An increased number of storms occurred in several locations on 11 July 2004, with hail and 100 mm of rain in the space of an hour. This strange, rarely occurring event flooded major intersections and underpasses, in addition to damaging residential and commercial properties. The storm caused serious damage to the West Edmonton Mall, causing the roof to collapse due to the weight of the rain. Therefore, the shopping center had to be evacuated as a precautionary measure.