Warm weather welcomed in Cape Breton after wintry March

It was a day many Cape Bretoners have been waiting for.

Tuesday’s forecast of sunshine and double-digit temperatures had people out and about with a smile on their face.

“Oh my goodness. I love warm weather, so I’m very excited to see the sunshine and the double-digit temperatures,” said Michelle Wilson, executive director of Sydney Downtown Development.

The warmer weather is a welcomed sign for businesses in Downtown Sydney. Many on Charlotte Street have been through months of financial turbulence.

“Construction after the pandemic, but then we had a hurricane in the middle, so that really put a damper on things for some of our businesses as well and created a lot of difficulties,” said Wilson.

After starting off mild, the winter season on the island quickly turned white.

Multiple storms kept city crews busier than usual.

“I can't speak to what each storm costs or doesn't cost, but I would suspect that whatever was saved in the early months was probably exhausted in the later,” said councillor Cyril MacDonald.

According to CTV Meteorologist Kalin Mitchell, it was an especially wintry March, with more than 93 centimetres of snow recorded at Sydney Airport. That's about twice as much as the island would typically see.

“I think crews certainly earned their keep in in February and March of this year. We saw some snow and then we saw a significant amount of rain for the beginning of the winter season,” said MacDonald.

With phase one of construction over downtown, there's hope people will spend their money in the city's core with the summer and prime tourism season on the horizon.

“If we want the local economy to thrive, we need to shop locally more than ever, coming out of all those difficult situations,” said Wilson