Hamilton’s spring fling sets heat record
No, this can't last Hamilton, but the city's torrid fling with early spring set a record high temperature for March 11 of 18 C.
It was more like you smashed the record, annihilated it - in my business you get excited by a tenth of a degree - and that's two days in a row," said Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips.
Indeed, while Wednesday's 17 C edged a 44-year-old temperature record for March 10 by two degrees, Thursday's high at 2 p.m. beat Hamilton's record for March 11 by three degrees, and was warmer than parts of Southern California.
The old March 11 record was set in 2012; Hot stuff!" read a Spectator headline back then,
The measuring stick for temperature records in Hamilton goes back to 1960, when data started to be recorded at the airport. The city did reach a March 11 high of 16.1 C in 99 - 1899, that is - when data was collected at a former meteorological station near the Royal Botanical Gardens.
Thursday's heat wave hit just over a week before spring officially arrives on March 20.
It felt even warmer than 18 C in the sun and out of the wind; Environment Canada temperatures are recorded in the shade.
The normal high temperature for this time of year is 3 C. The anomaly this week has been courtesy of dry, warm air coming our way via a high pressure system from the Southern U.S.
Phillips said the hot spot in southern Ontario on Thursday was Sarnia, one hour west of London, that hit 20 C.
The warmth perhaps feels even more pronounced, he said, coming on the heels of a colder-than-normal start to March, and frigid February, where Hamilton had 12 centimetres more snow than usual.
March typically delivers a blend of mercurial weather. That warm day in Hamilton in 2012 was the rule, not the exception that year: it was the hottest March ever in the city, and included one daytime high of 27 C.
Phillips said weekend high temperatures will drop back to low single digits, and predicts we have hardly seen the last of wintry weather.
On average, Hamilton receives 22 per cent of its annual snowfall after March 1.
This is a teaser to seduce you into thinking you should put away the shovel and snow tires. I'd wait a bit."
Jon Wells is a Hamilton-based reporter and feature writer for The Spectator. Reach him via email: jwells@thespec.com