Submitted by Bill Caulfeild-Browne
Although the Province as a whole saw much colder than usual temperatures, Big Tub Harbour was on average just about normal, thanks to the open water that persisted for the first few weeks. However averages can be misleading – it was a month of wild swings.
The first week was as cold as we would expect, with night-time lows varying between -2C and -9C. The next week provided much warmer than usual conditions with a high of +8.6C on the 9th, along with several nights that remained above freezing.
Winter returned with a vengeance for the balance of the month, recording consistent temperatures in the negative teens. The coldest was -19.1C on the 30th. The last week’s lows averaged -17C. Back from the lake it was several degrees colder.
What most of us will remember for the month were the intense storms of January 14th and 25/26th. Highway 6 was closed on several occasions – and was extremely hazardous even when it wasn’t closed. Toronto suffered most with 45-65 cms of snow, and the month gave Pearson Airport 284% of its normal snowfall. Over 60% of flights were cancelled on the 25th.
Many records were set in the month – Kirkland Lake recorded -43.7C on the 25th, while the other extreme was +15C in the GTA during the second week.
Needless to say, precipitation was well above normal with nearly 80mm of water equivalent – roughly 150% of Tobermory’s historic norm. This is likely to decrease in February as lake-effect snow dies down – the Great Lakes were 45% ice covered on January 31st, typical of mid-February
As I write this on February 7th, Georgian Bay is actually completely ice covered, as is most of Lake Huron.
