1998 Spring Weather Highlights

June 9, 1998

Spring 1998 was the warmest on record according to a report released today by Environment Canada. The current edition of the Climate Trends and Variations Bulletin for Canada provides a cross-country look at temperature and precipitation for the 1998 spring season (March, April & May 1998) and compares it to climate data over the past 51 years.

Highlights from the bulletin include:

• This is the warmest spring Canada has experienced since 1948. The temperature was greater than 3.1º C above normal.
• Canada on a whole had above normal temperatures this year, but the four regions that turned out to be the warmest are the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence (+2.8º C), Northwestern Forest (+3.3º C), Artic Tundra (+4.2º C) and the Mackenzie District which was a whole 6.5º C above normal.
• This was the 14^th driest spring since 1948 (1956 was the driest one) with 4.7% less precipitation than normal.
• More detail on Canada's weather trends, other regional analyses and links to El Niño are contained in the bulletin.

The summary, maps and charts are available on Environment Canada's Green Lane at http://www.tor.ec.gc.ca/ccrm/bulletin.

For further information, please contact:

Bob Whitewood
Environment Canada
(416) 739-4378