Environment Canada calls for 'warmer than normal' spring for most of Canada

Spring will be warmer than normal Spring officially arrived Monday and Environment Canada is forecasting it to be warmer than normal. KC Colby reports.

Spring officially arrived Monday morning and Environment Canada’s top weatherman  is forecasting warmer-than-normal conditions for a “good chunk” of the country.

Senior climatologist Dave Phillips says the latest models show Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes will be the first regions to snap out of wintery weather, noting the rest of the country will not be far behind.

“We think the flavour, the personality, of spring over a good chunk of the country is going to be warmer than normal,” he told CTV News Channel on Sunday. “The only area that looks like it’s going to be colder than normal is the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.”

Phillips says while this winter dealt a number of mighty blows – including a brutal storm in the Maritimes with hurricane-force winds and nearly a metre of snow in some regions – large parts of the country got off relatively easy.

“I think it surprised many Canadians that it wasn’t the brutal winter that everybody was thinking about,” he said. “In the Toronto area, southern Ontario, they got off pretty much scot-free.”

In Barrie, the forecast for the first day of spring includes a mix of sun and cloud and a high of 7.

Phillips doesn’t recommend putting your snow shovel away just yet. He says Canada often sees between 10 and 30 per cent of our annual snowfall after the first day of spring.

-With files from CTVNews.ca