WARMEST PLACE IN CANADA

Region hits record temperatures

Sometimes, you can count yourself lucky to live in Windsor-Essex.

The City of Roses was indisputably the warmest place in Canada this past weekend, with recordbreaking temperatures that soared over the rest of the province — and the rest of the country.

Saturday had a high of 19.1 C and Sunday topped out at 17.7 C.

The average high for this time of year is 1 C.

“Windsor is still the hot spot,” declared Environment Canada meteorologist Trudy Kidd on Sunday night.

And the unseasonably springlike weather may continue for a while. Kidd said temperatures should remain well above average throughout the week. “Even next Friday is predicted to be 7 C,” she noted.

Saturday’s temperature smashed the previous Windsor record for the date by almost seven degrees, while Sunday’s temperature broke the record for its date by three degrees.

The coldest Feb. 19 in Windsor history was in 1944 — when the mercury sank to -18.9 C.

Thankfully, it was the opposite for us this year.

Residents were quick to take advantage of the spring tease: stripping down to shorts and T-shirts, enjoying outdoor sports and activities, dipping their fishing poles in the river, and taking their motorcycles out for rides.

Kidd said other communities in Ontario enjoyed record temperatures over the weekend — as far east as Toronto and as far north as Thunder Bay.

But Windsor had the sweetest conditions of them all.

Even British Columbia couldn’t compete, with Vancouver’s high only reaching 8 C.

“It’s a nice relief,” Kidd said. “We are getting a taste of spring.”

Thanks should go to the placement of the North American jet stream. Kidd said it’s much farther north than usual right now, so Windsor is receiving a large amount of warm air from the southern U.S.

But Kidd cautioned that all of this is temporary: The reality is that it’s still winter in Canada. Windsor is still experiencing zero or sub-zero nights, and there’s a chance of flurries as soon as next Saturday.

“What I’ve been saying is: It wouldn’t be a good idea to put your winter coat away,” Kidd said. “We’re still in February.”

DAX MELMER Faith, 6, and her younger brother, Caleb, 4, throw rocks into the river at Great Western Park during record-breaking spring-like temperatures on Saturday.