Record for March 6th smashed today
Weather record 'annihilated' by 17.9C high
LUCAS OLENIUK/TORONTO STAR
ONTARIO: SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
TORONTO WEATHER
Mar 06, 2009 03:53 PM
Precious Yutangco and Stacey Askew
Staff reporters
Toronto's temperature shattered a 1974 record of 15.4C when Pearson International Airport recorded a temperature of 17.9C at 3 p.m. today.
"We didn't break this record, we shattered it, annihilated it" said Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson.
At 6 a.m., the temperature at Pearson International Airport was already sitting at 11C. It continued to rise until about noon, when clouds covered the sun and pushed the temperature down. The sun then came back, causing the record breaking temperature.
"It leaves the old record in the dust," Coulson said. However, he cautioned this spurt of warmth, while it is likely to be followed by a few more comfortable days, doesn't mean winter is done.
"It does look like there's a bit of a way to go before we can actually say winter's over," he said.
Coulson added the official high could be higher as minute-by-minute results aren't available yet.
Although meteorologist David Rodgers considers this weather "a little bit out of the ordinary," he said he is not surprised because "anything can happen in March."
The warm spell is expected to stick around for the next few days.
"There are no sharp temperature drops coming," Rodgers said. "But by Thursday, we are looking at cooler temperatures with highs hovering around 0C."
With such warm spells, there are risks of thunderstorms, Rodgers said, but the GTA does not have to worry about that today.
Winds will be around 40 km/h, gusting up to 60 early in the day but will taper off in the evening and temperatures will dip to -1C.
Storm systems will be hanging over Windsor, where 10 to 15 millimetres of rain is expected to fall by tomorrow.
On Thursday, Environment Canada expected Sunday's highs to be in the double digits, as well. Those predictions have since changed.
"It's been a little difficult to figure out the weather in the longer range (recently)," Rodgers said.
But if history has anything to say about it, Rodgers says, "you just can't rule out a snow storm in March or April."
A slight upswing is expected on Wednesday, just before both the highs and lows start staying below 0C again.
The weekend is off to a good start.
Tomorrow is expected to start off sunny with a high of 8C and a low of -1C as clouds roll in and rain starts in the afternoon. Sunday will see a mix of sun and cloud with a 40 per cent chance of showers.
