A to Z 2013: Sky

For the month of April I will be blogging alphabetically with the theme of Winnipeg versus Davao City. Not to prove a winner but simply to explore the differences and similarities between my home town and my current location.

S is for Sky!

The most amazing picture I have ever taken.

Sky, sun and stars. Winnipeg and Davao both have a brilliant sky above. Due to the incredibly different locales of these cities, however, the skies are not the same. Yes, sure, there is the general blue hue, sun, moon, stars and clouds but the texture is different. 

Moon over Davao.

I've lived most of my life on the prairies and have gotten very used to the wide expanse of deep blue fading its way down to the horizon. We can see clouds moving in for miles and have colourful sunsets and sunrises most often. If you can get beyond the city lights at the right time, you can also be awed by the aurora borealis.

Sunset over Winnipeg.

Being right on the water in Davao, the sky works differently. Rain clouds move in and out swiftly. Instead of days of rain or days of sun, we get hours of both each day, most often. There are mountains in nearly every direction and that impacts our sky as well. Mt Apo tends to be in cloud more often than not.

Mt Apo with only a few clouds.

At night, I have been surprised in both cities by the number of stars visible. I'm not sure if Winnipeg is actually making an effort to decrease light pollution or not, but in Davao they turn of lights because it saves money. (I was really surprised by how dark the epic Manila skyline is at night!)

The Big Dipper over Winnipeg.

Our apartment in Winnipeg had a pretty awesome view of the city and we would often watch the clouds, rain, sunsets, fireworks, eclipses and other phenomenon from our balcony. Davao is a lot shorter and we're in a house now so we don't see the same expanse of sky as we used to. But we do enjoy getting up the roofs of malls or out on the water to get a better look at our atmosphere.

View of Davao from Jack's Ridge.

One thing that Davao and Winnipeg do have in common is that they are both known for being very sunny cities. Winnipeg has the most sunlight in all of Canada! I imagine it could be disconcerting for visitors to step out into a bright -30°C day. Like I mentioned before, the amount of daylight changes drastically from winter to summer in Winnipeg. In Davao it barely shifts about half an hour.

Brilliant blue over Winnipeg at The Forks.

Sunset at Pearl Farm, Davao.

Common Asian city sight.

Another Winnipeg sunset.

EDIT Apr 25 2013:

Found another cool prairie sky photo!