Yet Another Warm Month
Submitted by Bill Caulfeild-Browne
The historical mean temperature for January is -6.2C; this year it was -2.6C or 3.6 degrees above normal. While not as warm as last January which was 4.4C above normal, it continues the trend towards much more temperate winters.
The coldest night occurred on the 19th when the mercury sank to -12.7C. A week later it had risen to +4C, the high for the month. There were six nights when the thermometer didn’t even go below zero.
Readers who check the Climate Canada site at the airport will note a confirmation of how the lake affects our weather. Back from the water, the cold was colder (-16.4) and the warm was warmer (+5.1), demonstrating how the relatively warm lake waters moderate the extremes in Big Tub.
Precipitation was about normal at 77mm of water equivalent, just 8mm above average. Most of it came on the 9th when a full inch fell as a snow/rain mix. A further 30mm fell in the form of snow on the 12th and 13th. It was very wet, heavy snow that qualified as heart attack potential for shovelers.
The dominant wind direction was from the west with very few of the north winds that typically bring us the very cold weather. The highest wind speed occurred on the 12th at 56 kmh – not very high by January standards.
The rest of the Province shared our weather. Most locations were distinctly warmer than usual – Toronto was 3.4C above, while areas to the north were even higher – Moosonee was 6.3C above. Precipitation was much higher than ours in the snow belts and generally lower in the North.
February so far is continuing the warm trend and very little snow depth remains. Good for snow removal budgets but bad for winter sports.
