Winter: Exactly as awful as you thought
Medicine Hat records coldest, snowiest February in the past quarter century
February was Medicine Hat’s coldest experienced in the past 25 years, with the most snow in the past 24, says Environment Canada.
There has also been more than double the precipitation this winter than normal. Hatters have every right to look out the window and groan, senior climatologist Dave Phillips says.
The average temperature in February is typically minus-5.5 C but it has been minus-14.9 C this year.
There have been 82 days with snow on the ground this winter. The norm is 66.
“It’s like double jeopardy,” Phillips said. “Not only have you had the cold but you’ve had the snow. You’ve had more days of snow and it has lasted longer. You’ve had to live it and survive it.
“If people are psychologically in a dump that is probably why. It’s been too much winter and winter has gone on too long. I think weather rage is about to break out there in Medicine Hat, and for good reason.”
If you’re looking for some good news in all of this, it is providing much needed moisture for farmers and ranchers.
If you took all the rain and snow since October and converted that to water, it would be 115 mm of precipitation, while a normal winter would contain about 56.
“For farmers and ranchers it is white gold,” said Phillips. “It is money in the bank.”
Now for the bad news — the snowiest month of the season is typically March.
“Your winter may be over but the snowfall begins,” said Phillips. “I would bet the family farm on it.”
From March 1 until the last snow, the Hat would normally receive about 27.4 cm of snow, representing about 31 per cent of the snowfall for the season, said Phillips.
“Don’t put the snow shovel away. Don’t write the obituary on the snowfall season,” said Phillips. “You get 6 cm of snow in May on average. (Winter) is not over until it’s over.”
Hatters can also expect about three days of snow in April, he said. Some of the biggest dumps of snow occur in the spring.
The silver lining is spring snow is different — it is wetter, does not hang around on the ground as long and does not get blown around in the wind as much.
Unfortunately, there isn’t an “allotment of misery days” to the season or Hatters could easily claim it’s long been reached, said Phillips.
“I wish it worked that way.”