Winter got off to an unusually warm start in Inuvik, but the cold has finally arrived.

鈥淒ecember was definitely warmer than usual,鈥� the community鈥檚 mayor, Clarence Wood, said on Jan. 3. 鈥淲e鈥檙e already making up for it. It鈥檚 -35 today.鈥�

The mild December weather had a range of effects on Inuvik, which sits roughly 200 km above the Arctic Circle and is home to approximately 3,200 people.

鈥淭he ice crossing on the Mackenzie River couldn鈥檛 open in a normal time frame and was delayed,鈥� the mayor said, which hampered travel and resupplies. The increased snowfall that came with the warmer weather also saw the municipality 鈥渟pending double on snow clearing,鈥� he added.

Some 350 km to the southwest, but still above the Arctic Circle, the small community of Colville Lake has also finally experienced familiar winter temperatures in the low -30s, but had a similarly balmy start to the season.

鈥淚t鈥檚 new,鈥� said senior administrative officer and Behdzi Ahda First Nation band manager Joseph Kochon, who has called the community of just over 100 people home for his entire life. 鈥淚t was kind of a slow start. Normally, we open up our winter road before Christmas, and even though we had a late start, the workers worked day and night and they managed to open the winter road before Christmas. The pressure was on, and they managed to do it for the resupplies for our Co-op and our fuel.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been waiting for the cold weather, and now it鈥檚 here and we鈥檙e enjoying it. We鈥檙e really happy that it鈥檚 here, because the ice rating depends on the cold weather, so we can鈥檛 really get any resupply until the ice thickens up,鈥� Kochon explained.

Further to the southeast, in the Tlicho community of Behchoko, things weren鈥檛 much different to start this winter, though temperatures have also plummeted down to the low -30s.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a big change in temperature,鈥� said Monfwi MLA and Behchoko resident Jane Weyallon Armstrong. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like before. The winter has started, but it鈥檚 taking longer, and if we do have ice roads, it鈥檚 going to be a shorter season.鈥�

Reactions to the changing winter climate in the NWT vary depending on who you speak to, and where they live. Many people in communities like Fort Simpson and Nahanni Butte, which depend on ice crossings for access to the rest of Canada, are calling for the creation of all-season bridges to mitigate the effects of slower freezes.

As an MLA, Weyallon Armstrong believes council must support those calls, contending 鈥渨e need to focus on the infrastructure.鈥�

Others, however, have a more passive reaction to the changing weather, such as Colville Lake鈥檚 Kochon.

鈥淭here鈥檚 not much you can do,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hatever nature offers is what we have to accept. We just have to adapt as it comes. You don鈥檛 have to talk about it, you don鈥檛 have to make a big deal about it, it just comes as nature does, and we just have to accept it.鈥�