Warm weather breaks temperature records
The warm weather in Waterloo Region and Guelph on Monday has set new records.
Temperatures soared Monday afternoon under sunny skies, reaching 20.5 C by 3 p.m. at the weather station at the Region of Waterloo International Airport, and 19.5 C by 4 p.m. in Guelph.
Environment Canada had called for a high of 17 C in Kitchener-Waterloo on Monday, with 15 C forecast for Tuesday with a chance of showers. The average high for this time of year is around 1 C.
The previous high-temperature record in Kitchener and Guelph for March 4 was set in 1964, when the mercury shot to 11.7 C at both locations. The record high in Cambridge was set in 1974, when the temperature reached 12.8 C.
It would take quite the warm-up, however, to top the March monthly temperature record for Waterloo Region of 24.4 C set on March 8, 2000.
Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson said a strong flow of air from the south is influencing this week’s weather across southern, central and eastern Ontario.
“This air mass is coming up from the American deep south,” he said.
The expected warm weather is in line with what has already been one of the warmest winters on record for Waterloo Region.
“March is continuing this trend, with some pretty exceptional days early in the month,” Coulson said.
Data from the E.D. Soulis Memorial Weather Station at the University of Waterloo shows February was the second warmest February in the history of weather records in the region, going back to 1914.
The overall temperature for the month was close to 5 degrees above average. This is just a bit cooler than the warmest February on record, seen in 2017.
Although there were a few wet days during the month, it could only bring the total precipitation to about a third of what is usually experienced in February. The month will go down as the driest February since 1987, with 21.6 mm of total precipitation, compared with the average of 63.5 mm.
The total snowfall this year has also been lacking. The University of
Waterloo weather station reports 59.5 cm of snow has fallen this winter, less than half the average 125.6 cm for this point in the season.
Looking at the meteorological winter months of December, January and February, the average temperature at the station was -1.8 C. This was the third warmest winter, only behind 2001-2002, and 1931-1932.
The forecast calls for temperatures to cool down to 6 C on Wednesday before bumping back up to 10 C for Thursday and Friday.