Canadians east of Saskatchewan can expect a warm spring as temperatures are expected to surge up to 70 per cent above the seasonal norm at times, according to Environment Canada’s latest long-term forecast.
In the West, the agency’s outlook calls for seasonally average temperatures on the heels of a cold winter.
Dave Phillips, Environment Canada’s senior climatologist, is optimistic that Canadians nation-wide will be content with the weather spring has in store. Environment Canada is not expecting any colder-than-normal conditions on the horizon between March and May.
“We think that winter-weary Canadians are going to be happy with this forecast,” Phillips told CTV News Channel on Thursday. “We think the flavour, the personality of the season is going to be milder than normal in most of Canada.”
He notes that Environment Canada’s forecast falls in line with multiple U.S. and European weather models, which also call for a mild spring.
“I think this sounds like good news for most Canadians,” he told CTV’s Your Morning.
Phillips highlighted more good news in the form of heavier mountain snowfall in B.C. reducing the risk of wildfires. He also pointed to slimmer chances of spring flooding in the prairies and western Quebec, and more flooding in eastern Ontario.
“The flooding we saw in eastern Ontario and western Quebec last year was the worst on record. I think that risk has eased a bit,” he told CTV News Channel. “We know, on the prairies, for example, that the flood risk is just not there. They did not have very much snow at all.”
The absence of prairie snowfall may pose a problem for farmers in the region, Phillips noted. A lack of moisture in the ground preventing seeds from germinating.
Looking ahead to summer, he said Canadians can expect some heat.
“We show for most of Canada a warmer than normal summer,” Phillips said on CTV’s Your Morning. “I can already see the muscle shirts, the tank tops and the beer starting to flow.”
Winter weather may not be entirely over, he cautioned. Snow in the forecast for parts of Ontario this week is a reminder that parkas and warm weather apparel should be kept side-by-side in Canadian closets until spring weather fully arrives.
“It’s a good lesson to not put away the snow shovel or take snow tires off,” Phillips told CTV News Channel.
