After cold, snowy April weather, Environment Canada suggests 'write it off' and look ahead to May

Winter presses pause on Spring Near record cold makes staying inside a good idea. CTV's Dylan Dyson reports.

OTTAWA — With ten days left in April, Canada’s top weather forecaster suggests it’s time for Ottawa residents to write off thoughts of a warm April and look ahead to May.

Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips tells CTV News Ottawa that Ottawa is on track for one of the coldest April’s in history.

Residents woke up to snow on Tuesday morning, while Wednesday delivered near record low temperatures.

Phillips notes the warmest single day temperature in April was 15.3C back on April 13.

“If that holds true, and I think it will given what we see over the next week or so, that would be the lowest high temperature you’ve had in Ottawa ever in April.”

The mean temperature for April in Ottawa is 4 degrees. Normally, it’s 6.3 degrees in April.

“That’s typically what spring is about, it’s really the summer wanting to get a foothold and winter wanting to hold on,” Phillips said on Wednesday.

“And April is rather fickle and fitful in regards to the weather.”

On Tuesday, Ottawa received two centimetres of snow.

Wednesday morning, Ottawa residents woke up in the coldest capital in the world.  The temperature dropped to -6C at 6 a.m. The record for coldest April 22 in Ottawa history is -6.8C set back in 1986.

Environment Canada’s forecast for the week doesn’t offer a lot of hope for warm weather.

Temperatures are expected to drop to -8C early Thursday morning, which would set a record for coldest April 23 in Ottawa history. The current record for coldest April 23 is -4.4C, set back in 1945.

The forecast calls for sunshine and a high of 7C on Thursday, and sunshine with a high of 11C on Friday.

Normal temperatures for this time of year are a high of 14C and a low of 3C.

Phillips suggests it’s time for Ottawa residents to start looking ahead to May.

“I think April you might as well write it off. It’s not going to be anything, that I see, that’s going to warm it up,” said Phillips.

“You might get a day like you’ve had where the temperature might get up to 13 or 14 degrees and then right back down to cool air.  It might not snow but there may be rain.”