A blast of winter weather in London, Ont., could shatter temperature records for the day and is already believed to have set a new snowfall record.
Environment Canada is forecasting a high of just 1 C on Wednesday, almost guaranteeing a new record low for the maximum temperature for April 21.
The previous record for the lowest maximum temperature for the day in London is 5 C in 1945, recorded at the airport.
Before 1941, data was recorded in nearby Lambeth, where the record low max for the day is 3.8 C recorded in 1936.
“It looks like we’re going to smash them both today because we’re barely at one degree,” says Global News Radio 980 CFPL weather specialist John Wilson.
The overnight low, meanwhile, is expected to fall to -5 C, approaching the current record low for April 21 of -5.9 C set in 1981 at the airport.
While Environment Canada doesn’t currently record snowfall amounts, Wilson believes a new record was set on April 20.
“The airport doesn’t keep official snowfall records, but I do at home and I had 7.1 centimetres by midnight,” Wilson says.
“That breaks the old 6.4-centimetre record from 1924. That’s an old one.”
By mid-afternoon Wednesday most of the snow had melted, thanks in part to the warm ground temperature this time of year.
The temperature is forecast to rise sharply through the rest of the week.
Flurries are possible Thursday morning but Environment Canada is calling for the temperature to climb throughout the day to reach a high of 6 C. On Friday, the temperature is expected to soar to 15 C.