TORONTO – February was a strange month across the country.
If you were in British Columbia, for the most part things were normal, with notable exceptions in Vancouver and Victoria. Edmonton was a couple of degrees colder than normal. But there were a few major cities that would sooner forget the month of February. And then there was Calgary.
The first week of January probably had Calgarians a little worried about what the rest of winter had in store. Sure, the first two days were somewhat mild (on Jan. 1 the city reached a high of 1.1 C). But after that, the city plunged into a deep freeze with an average daytime temperature near -15 C. They needn’t have worried.
The rest of the month, the temperature continued to climb. The city even reached a record high of 17.2 C. That’s right. The negative sign isn’t missing. It felt more like summer than winter. The average temperature was -3.0 C, far above the average of -7.1 C.
Well, in February the trend continued. The city experienced more above-zero temperatures than below-zero. On Feb. 13, it was 14.9 C. As of Feb. 25, the average daytime high was 1.7 C, above the normal 0.7 C. That may not seem like a lot, but the only reason it’s that low is because at the beginning of the month there was a big swing between highs and lows. Take Feb. 7, for example: the daytime high was almost 10C, but the low was -15 C.
And while Calgary was basking in above-normal temperatures, Torontonians were left looking enviously to their western cousins.
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Toronto had what will likely turn out to be the coldest February in its history.
The highest the mercury climbed was -1.4 C. Not once did the temperature rise above 0 C. And the lows? Don’t even get Toronto started. The city issued 23 extreme cold weather alerts and broke records for overnight lows.
And because of the deep chill, all the precipitation fell as snow. Usually the city receives an average of 20.9 mm of rain. It recorded just a trace, meaning it wasn’t even measurable. Instead, it received 47.8 cm of snow, a few centimetres above the normal average of 41.2 cm.
Even in Regina the city was in a deep freeze: they had an average temperature of -16.4 C, far below the normal of -11.7 C.
Winnipeg’s average was -19.6 C, also far below their average (-14.5 C).
Montreal was chilly too with an average of -15.4 C. Its daytime normal? -7.7 C.
But undoubtedly, it was Halifax that had it the roughest in February.
It wasn’t the cold that did in Halifax, but the snow. The neverending snow.
By the end of January, the city had already received almost 60 cm of snow, which was about average.
And then February rolled in.
On Feb. 2, the city received 19 cm. And then 7.7 cm the next day. On the 4th, it received another 17 cm. But it was Feb. 15 when it got walloped. That day a sharp nor’easter made its way up the U.S. eastern seaboard and slammed the city hard, dumping 28 cm of snow on a city that had already received above its monthly total — in just half a month.
WATCH: Halifax struggles with February snow
It continued to snow here and there, but not much to talk about. Until the 19th when another 12 cm fell. And on Feb. 25 another 17 cm dropped on the city that was already buried.
In the end, the city received 130.8 cm blowing its average of 45.4 cm out of the water.
So as March rolls around, there are a lot of cities looking forward to longer days and more warmth. Except Calgary.
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