Ontario breaks free from extreme cold, but winter a ‘long drawn-out affair’

Global News chief meteorologist Anthony Farnell says the cold air that was brought down from Siberia and the North Pole has finally moved off, bringing with it a chance for better conditions.

“Definitely the coldest air of the winter is now behind us, so we’re pretty confident about that,” Farnell said. “It was very cold this past weekend. That air came direct from the North Pole and that really was kind of the grand finale, if you will.”

Going forward, Farnell said, the province is more likely to see days of above-freezing temperatures in the single digits with “mild temperatures” going through the Family Day weekend and the next 10 days or so.

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However, when asked what “mild” means, Farnell cautioned it doesn’t mean temperatures such as 10 C but it will be above normal. The average high for Toronto on Monday, for example, was -1 C.

“So above that -1 during the day, and then at night, we’re not going to be dealing with -20s like we’ve had,” he said.

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Extreme cold grips Toronto, wind chills to near -35 C

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Ontario saw its first thaw on Monday, after seeing wind chills bring the temperature into the -20s and -30s on Saturday and Sunday. Toronto saw the wind chill make it feel closer to -33C on Saturday and -34 C in Ottawa.

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Part of the change in the coming month is due to a change to the jet stream. Farnell noted a big ridge on the West Coast has led to the spring-like temperatures seen in places like Vancouver and Calgary with double-digit highs.

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“So it’s been a big bridge out west and then this big trough, that polar vortex in the east, now we’re seeing things flatten out,” Farnell said. “So we’re getting relatively mild air in here that still is cold enough for it to snow sometimes, but not to the extremes we’ve seen.”

It’s why Farnell says winter isn’t over yet, noting Ontarians should still expect snow later next week with “quite a bit” of snow still expected later this month.

He did, however, advise that the higher temperatures could mean people finally see some of the “massive” snow banks melt each day.

“This is nice kind of break, our February version of the January thaw,” Farnell said. “But it doesn’t mean winter’s done and I still see quite a bit of cold and snow as we get towards the end of February and especially March.

“I dont think this winter’s going to just disappear like we’ve seen in past years. This one’s going to be a long, drawn-out affair, so just keep that in mind.”

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