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Winter Temperatures were above normal

Ottawa - March 8, 1999 - Canadian temperatures in 1999 are starting off where 1998 ended … well above normal! The current edition of the Climate Trends and Variations Bulletin for Canada, released today by Environment Canada, provides a cross-country look at temperature and precipitation for the 1998-99 winter season (December 1998, January and February 1999) and compares it to climate data from the past 52 years.

Highlights from the bulletin include:

• With an average temperature 2.4ºC above normal (the normal is about -15.7ºC), this was the 4^th warmest winter on record (based on preliminary data). The warmest winter ever recorded was 1986-87(average of 3.0ºC above normal), followed by 1997-98 and 1959-60.
• Temperatures in the central part of the Northwest Territories were more than 5ºC above normal .
• The Pacific Coast Region had its wettest winter on record, up by 37.8 % more precipitation than normal (total of approximately 840 mm of precipitation during the 1998-99 winter, compared to an average of 610 mm)
• The Prairies and Northwestern Forest Regions continue to be drier than normal.

The summary, maps and charts for winter 1998-99 are available on Environment Canada’s Green Lane at http://www.ec.gc.ca

For further information, please contact:

Bob Whitewood

Environment Canada

(416) 739-4378

The Green Lane^TM,
Environment Canada's World Wide Web Site.