Spring expected to have above-average monthly temperatures: Meteorologist

Good news for gardeners, agricultural sector

After enduring one of the longest, coldest and snowiest winters in the past quarter century, residents of Kawartha Lakes are waiting anxiously for the arrival of spring-like weather that stays.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has some good news for those winter-weary individuals. ECCC’s long-range spring forecast calls for the start of warmer days and significant rainfall beginning the week of April 13 and continuing with temperatures and precipitation well above monthly averages until the end of June.

Senior ECCC meteorologist David Phillips said that to understand where we are right now with spring, we need to remember what we just experienced over the last five months.

“Winter really began on Nov. 9 this year,” Phillips said. “Every month since, we have had below normal temperatures and snowfall not seen since the 1970s. The five months of below normal temperatures is one for the ages. Kawartha Lakes has received 80 per cent more snow than normal. Close to 280 centimetres of snow has fallen so far this winter, with the possibility of more to come. When you add five months of below average warmth with days two to two-and-a-half degrees colder than normal, it has been a double-whammy for Kawartha Lakes residents.”

Phillips said that late March through early April is going to continue an unpredictable pattern with another four to five days of snow expected to bring as much as another 12 centimetres to Kawartha Lakes.

“We are now at the spot in the calendar where there are more hours of daylight than of darkness. The sun is now on a 45-degree angle. The sun is able to warm human skin and we can feel that warmth more easily.”

Phillips explained that after melting the remaining snow and drying out the ground, the heat will start to warm the air so that temperatures remain above freezing both day and night, heralding the beginning of a sustained spring.

“This should begin in mid-April,” Phillips said, “with warmer than normal temperatures. Daytime highs of 10 degrees and night time lows of four degrees will soon become the normal. It will be too early to plant the garden and cool may return occasionally, but only briefly. Spring is arriving reluctantly, but it is definitely on the way.”

Phillips said that between the record snowfalls and a wetter than average spring predicted, the drought problems faced last year in Kawartha Lakes should be a distant memory.

“It was seriously dry last year,” Phillips said. “Growers are still recovering. This forecast is not as bleak as it was last spring. Central Ontario will be well watered and it should continue through the spring. We predict that the Kawarthas will get between 85-115 per cent of their normal precipitation this spring, far better than the 45 per cent they got last spring.”

Phillips suggests that the moisture news is good for gardeners, the agriculture sector and those who were called to fight wildfires across Kawartha Lakes last summer.

“In Kawartha Lakes the groundwater has been recharged by the snowmelt and that is good news for everyone,” Phillips said.