Spring weather a tease
Niagara enjoys week of record temperatures …
Niagara is experiencing record — and near record — warm temperatures for February.
David Phillips, senior climatologist for Environment Canada, said if the temperature reaches 15C Thursday, as the weather agency forecasts, it would beat the record of 14.6C in 1981.
The high Wednesday was 14C. The record high was 15.4C in 1981.
The temperature is expected to hit 14C on Saturday. The record high was 15.6C.
“I mean it should be two degrees, not 14 degrees, or 15 degrees,” said Phillips.
“These are like a dozen and change more than they normally would be. It’s going to be near records on some days, but clearly you’ve already broken a record.”
He said the temperature this past Saturday was 15.3C, which beat the record of 13.3C.
“These records go back to 1901. It’s hard to break a record when you’ve got over 100 years of records. I think (Thursday) could very well be (a record), especially if we get a little bit more sun than the fog that we’ve seen in some parts of southern Ontario.”
Phillips said he doesn’t recall such a sustained stretch of warm weather in February such as this year.
“I don’t think there’s been a warmer week in February. What’s so interesting about this heat wave in February is that it is so persistent. You often will get one or two days where spring has arrived, and then you’re back into the cold winter weather. This has gone on. It went from (last) Saturday to this coming) Saturday.
“What we’re seeing this week and this kind of almost final full week of February is something you’d expect in late April, early May.”
He said despite the pleasant temperatures in recent days, don’t think spring has arrived just yet.
He said Sunday is expected to be closer to normal, with a high of 3C and there’s a chance of flurries next Tuesday.
“This is a week-long teaser. You typically get about 20 per cent of your annual snow fall after March 1. It’s not as if you should put away the snow shovel or get the snow tires off, we still have March and a cool April to go through.”
Phillips said Environment Canada models are showing near normal temperatures for the “next little while,” but “we think the first part of March may be a little cooler than normal.
“We think the Arctic air is coming back. We think that the Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico air, which has dominated the weather since Jan. 1, will ease up and we’ll see more of something that you might expect (for this time of year).
“I think March will play out to be kind of a typical March, where you’re both winter one day and summer the next day.”