Where is spring? Windsor sets cold records
Windsor residents had an extra reason to stay inside the past couple of days.
Temperatures slumped to -3.5 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, beating the previous record lowest temperature of -2.8 C set in 1950.
Back then, Canada was dealing with a different pandemic, as cases of polio flared up in the early 1950s.
The chilly temperatures are due to a cold air mass moving in from northern Canada. Luckily, that cold air mass has already moved on, according to Gerald Cheng, meteorologist with Environment Canada.
“We do see big swings in temperature especially in spring, because we do have these big systems that move across southwestern Ontario and sometimes you get really, really warm weather and sometimes we get weather that reminds you of winter," he said.
This system was the flip side of above seasonal average temperatures Windsor had at the end of March.
Windsor also saw record low temperatures on April 16, with a different cold-weather system pushing temperatures down to -5.1 C, beating the previous record of -4.8 C set in 2014.
Despite the record-breaking, Cheng said the cold temperatures were “just a hiccup,” and the Windsor area can look forward to warmer temperatures this Friday, with a forecast high of 15 — though still below the average high of about 17 for this time of year. Unfortunately, warmer days won’t stick around for long, as the big swings in temperature will continue for the next two weeks, said Cheng.
“If you’re looking forward to the warmer temperatures, it doesn’t seem promising because it seems like we’ll flirt with the seasonal temperature, then drop back down below seasonal temperatures.”