Winter was 'cancelled' this year: Environment Canada climatologist

An Environment Canada climatologist says this year’s winter was, in a way, “cancelled,” across the country.

“What was lacking was the look and feel of winter, particularly the cold,” says David Phillips in an interview with CTV News Atlantic. “It was just so persistently mild.”

Meteorological spring began on Friday, and the spring equinox arrives on March 19. Dates aside, Phillips says the combination of climate change, warmer oceans, and a supercharged El Nino made it difficult for winter to “get going” this season.

“All of sudden the rain would come, the melting would come, and winter would disappear in a matter of days,” says Phillips.

The average daily temperature during the month of January was 2.9 degrees higher in Fredericton and Charlottetown, and 3 degrees higher in Moncton. 

In the three-month period between December and February, Phillips says there were 15 separate freeze/thaw cycles throughout Atlantic Canada.

“No wonder winter was cancelled in Canada this year,” says Phillips.

Around the region, effects of the unseasonably warm conditions have ranged from the cancellation of the World Pond Hockey Championship in Plaster Rock, N.B., to the end of ice thickness testing on Halifax area lakes.

Effects of the spring like weather have included an early start to New Brunswick’s maple syrup season, and flood advisories dotting the Saint John River prior to the official launch of EMO’s annual River Watch campaign.