Thursday, March 27, 2014

When will Canada finally say farewell to winter?

A man shovels out after a winter storm hit St.John's. N.L., Sunday, Jan.5, 2014. (Paul Daly / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Spring has arrived on Canada’s west coast, but the rest of the country is still firmly in winter’s grasp.
Vancouver is enjoying balmy, double-digit temperatures while the east coast gets hammered with a massive spring snow storm Wednesday that could set new records.

With below-normal seasonal temperatures forecasted for the near future, most Canadians are still left wondering: when is winter going to finally end?

Environment Canada meteorologist Matt MacDonald said Canadians may need to hold onto their mitts, hats and toques for at least another two weeks of cold.
If you want to lay blame, he said, look to the polar vortex, an arctic air system that has been more prominent in Canada and U.S. than in winters past.

“This is all owing to this infamous polar vortex -- or this massive trough in the jetstream,” MacDonald told CTV’s News Channel Wednesday. “It’s just really stubborn, it doesn’t want to go away.”

MacDonald said the only areas of Canada forecasted in April for above or near normal April temperatures will be most of British Columbia and a region near Baffin Island.

Otherwise, winter temperatures will remain for at least the next two weeks in most parts of Canada.
“I’d say be patient, spring is going to come, but it might be a good idea to try and embrace winter while it’s here,” MacDonald said.

The winter season has been long and harsh, with regions throughout Canada experiencing more cold and snow than seen in recent years.

Toronto is experiencing the coldest winter in two decades, as is St. John’s and Saskatoon, while Windsor experienced the coldest winter in 35 years and its snowiest season on record.

Vancouver may be seeing milder temperatures now, but it too, was not immune to the cold: This past February was the city’s coldest in 25 years

CTV


 

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