With spring a week away, it’s expected to warm up to as much as 19 C by Tuesday — good news for those tired of frigid conditions.
But winter isn't about to give up easily, providing a blast on Tuesday afternoon of snow grains, similar to hail but lighter, although some of the icy chunks were big enough to cause pain to people struck by them.
The rising temperatures on the horizon will feel even better in contrast with the chilly weather we’ve been having, said Environment Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan.
Temperatures are rising from below normal to above normal in short order, while the sun around the time of the spring equinox also begins to increase in strength and duration.
“Those things together are going to make you feel like T-shirt-and-shorts weather,” Castellan said.
“In the sun, it will feel fantastic. It’s coming from a cold context, so it’s going to feel doubly strong.”
Overnight lows are expected to stay above zero, at 3 C to 5 C.
Thursday looks to be a hiccup, with rain and an 8 C high, but the forecast calls for a steady climb through the weekend, culminating with a sunny 17 C high on Monday.
That’s not far from a record of 18.9 for March 18, set in 1932.
Castellan said to expect four warm days, starting Sunday, with little in the way of rain. “Maybe Wednesday things will start to get a little bit wetter, but it will be about seven, eight degrees warmer than normal.”
The capital region hasn’t enjoyed above-normal temperatures since January, he said — in fact, mid-January was the last time we saw temperatures above 10 degrees.
Don’t expect last week’s blast of snow to be repeated, even though it has snowed here long past mid-March. Castellan said the latest-recorded snowfall in the region came on April 25, 1970, but snow that late is “excessively rare.”
“We’re talking about way less than one per cent chance of snow in April.”
At Wildwood Outdoor Living Centre, a gardening and outdoor-decor supplier, the cold, sometimes-snowy weather through the first part of the year made business a bit of a challenge, said owner Gord Nickel, who is excited by the promise of a 17-degree day on Monday. “I was pretty stoked about that.”
The region saw lots of flowers in bloom in January, before snow hit in February, but now people are turning back to their gardens, with more favourable weather in sight.
“It’s like a faucet, and someone just turns the water on as soon as they hit the warm temperatures.”
An important factor is having overnight temperatures in the 3 C to 4 C range, Nickel said.
“People get really excited because it starts to feel like spring,” he said. “Even with a bit of nicer weather, you can see the people coming out and checking things out.”
