A special weather statement has been issued for the London, Ont., region ahead of forecasted strong winds and potentially record-breaking warmth on Wednesday.
The advisory, which is in place for much of southwestern Ontario, says strong gusts near 80 km/h are expected from late Wednesday morning to the late afternoon.
Wednesday’s high is expected to hit 15 C in the afternoon, surpassing the city’s previous high temperature for Feb. 15, set in 1954 at 11.7 C. The normal high for this time of the year is -1 C.
“When we look at winter, we do see big swings in temperatures, but boy, if this is a mild stretch. Our normal highs should be around -1 C, and we are above that,” said Gerald Cheng, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
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“Don’t get used to these mild temperatures because we will drop back down to closer to normal, although there’s still a mild wave, but we won’t be looking at temperatures into the mid-teens. As we head into late February, I think temperatures will be closer to normal than what we will see tomorrow.”
In addition to the wind and warmth, Environment Canada says Wednesday is expected to be mostly cloudy with a 70 per cent chance of showers in the morning and early afternoon, clearing by late afternoon. Overnight, conditions will be clear with a low of -1 C.
Highs above freezing are expected Thursday as well, along with cloudy skies and a 60 per cent chance of rain. Friday will see a high of -4 C along with cloudy conditions and a 60 per cent chance of flurries.
This week’s warm weather continues the milder winter the region has experienced since late December.
According to Environment Canada, the mean temperature for the month of January was -0.9 C, and at least 21 days saw highs above freezing, the warmest being Jan. 17 with a high of 8.2 C. The coldest day of the month was Jan. 31, with a recorded high of -7.7 C and a low of -14.3 C.
As of Tuesday, the mean temperature for the month of February was -1.8 C, with the warmest day so far being Feb. 9 at 9.9 C, and the coldest being Feb. 3 with a low of -16.9 C. At least nine days this month have seen highs above freezing.