The weather—in all its wonder—takes centre stage once again in the latest issue from Canada Post.
“Weather Wonders” is a five-stamp issue showcasing some of Canada’s most awe-inspiring weather phenomena in photographs taken from across the country. This year’s release follows up on the popular 2015 issue, which featured striking images of hoar frost; early morning fog; a double rainbow; lightning; and sun dogs.
“There’s an old joke that says there are two seasons in Canada – winter and construction. We beg to differ,” wrote Canada Post Director of Stamp Services Jim Phillips in the recent issue of Details magazine. “The summery nature of the stamps in this issue celebrates the much-appreciated warmth and freedom this season brings. Speaking of weather (and honestly, when don’t we?), you’ll also find five mesmerizing meteorological phenomena in part two of our Weather Wonders series.”
This year’s “Weather Wonders” set features:
- Mark Newman’s photograph of a thick layer of steam fog over an unidentified British Columbia lake taken just as an icy wind caused humid air to condense over the warmer surface;
- Garry Cass’ photograph of a a magnificent, if not menacing, waterspout over Lake Ontario near Toronto;
- Marilyn Dunstan’s bucolic photo of lenticular clouds (some call them UFO clouds because of their disc-like shape) taken in Jasper National Park in Alberta;
- Timmy Joe Elzinga’s shot of the spectacular light pillars reflecting the city lights of North Bay, Ont.; and
- David McColm’s photograph that forever freezes a moon halo in Whistler, B.C.
NATURE’S BEAUTY
Captured in Canada by amateur and professional photographers with endless patience, keen eyes and some luck, these photos reveal the awesome power and beauty of nature.
Timmy Joe Elzinga, a resident of North Bay, Ont., used his smartphone to shoot the otherworldly photo of light pillars—ethereal bands of light that appear when tiny ice crystals in the air reflect light from artificial sources. Awoken one cold January night by his young son, Elzinga noticed the strange lights out the bathroom window.
“Red, blue, green, yellow, purple and pink lights seemed to beam up in to the air,” he said. “It almost looked like something out of Star Trek.”
This set will be issued July 26 in booklets of 10 stamps and souvenir sheets of five stamps. Designed by Entro Communications, the stamps were printed by Lowe-Martin using four-colour lithography.
A souvenir sheet OFDC cancelled in North Bay, Ont., was also issued.
NEXT STAMPS
The next Canadian stamps slated for release include:
- Birds of Canada (the last issue of the series) on Aug. 20;
- Emergency Responders on Sept. 14 (date to be confirmed);
- Canada Post Community Foundation on Sept. 24; and
- Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep on Oct. 10.