Spring officially arrived at 11:06 Tuesday night and Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips says it’s almost as if this winter never happened.
The warmest winter on record is raising concerns about everything from the upcoming wildfire season to erosion.
Some people may have been grateful for a break on heating bills or for periodic balmy days, but Phillips says the record-breaking temperatures upended Canada’s winter way of life.
Winter festivals were cancelled, ski resorts closed, and remote First Nations in Ontario and Manitoba that depend on ice roads issued states of emergency due to poor conditions.
Phillips says he calls this winter “the lost season.”
That’s because the three-month period from December to February was the warmest ever seen in national records dating back 77 years.
However, according to the Environment Canada forecast for Wednesday, there is a chance of flurries through Friday and a snow squall watch has been issued for London with 15 to 25 cm of snow possible into Thursday.
