Spring Solstice 2023

So we all know that the spring equinox isn't necessarily they end to our wintery weather, but by this point most of winter should be in the past.

So let's take a look back at the "winter" of 2022-2023...

By March 20th our average Highs are solidly above freezing again, which hadn't happened since early November. Our average Lows are still below freezing, but at -6.5°C that's well up from the December through February average of around -14°C.



The Horserace

November 1st 2022 through March 19th 2023 ends up as our 79th warmest "winter" on record out of 142, with an average temperature that was right on the 20th century average. The Highs were a little cool in 88th spot, and the Lows were a little warm in 72nd.

Across the country November-March was a little cool in the west, but pretty warm further east. The winter Highs were top-10 in Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Halifax.

The temperatures in Central Canada were above the 20th century average for the whole winter, while the Prairies and Vancouver were cool in November & December.

For Edmonton, November had a few cold days, but December had the big deepfreeze right before Christmas. We then had 52 days below freezing, although most were pretty mild. Then things warmed up in late-January & early-February, before leading into a cool start to March.



Cold Days

We're probably done with our -20°C Lows for the winter. 2022-2023 had 23, which is just a bit below our average of 25. We had a bunch of them at the start and end of December, and then a few more scattered around.

That included 10 Lows of -25°C, when we average around 12.

And we had 3 Lows of -30°C, when we average around 4. The coldest was -34.1°C on December 21st.

We've had 6 winters in-a-row with at least 3 Lows that reached -30°C.

The last time we had that many in a row was the late 60's and early 70's.



Cold Days Across Canada

For -20°C Lows across the country everyone was just a little low this winter. Saskatoon had the most with 53 (so far).

For -30°C Lows everyone was also a little Low, and Saskatoon was also at the top with 12.



Warm Days

From November 1st through March 19th we had 46 Highs of 0°C or more, which is quite a bit below our average of 59.5°C Highs were also low, with 20 while we average 27.

The 52-days below-freezing streak from late-November through mid-January didn't help.



Snowfall

It's been a low-snow winter for us. So far we only have 63.9cm, and by this point of the winter we average 95.8cm. It's not over yet though, because in April & May we average another 20cm.

Compared to the rest of the country Edmonton's 63.9cm of snow is down near the bottom, and just above Vancouver's 54.3. Calgary has 150cm, Montréal and St. John's are over 200cm, and Ottawa is over 300cm (currently its 7th snowiest winter).



Snowdepth

We are at the part of the winter where our snowdepth starts dropping. The cool start to March kept things high for the early part of the month, but just since March 15th all of the local stations have seen a drop.

And across the country the snowdepth in most the cities has started to drop. St. John's is still at the top at 34cm, and Ottawa is next with 29cm.

Ottawa had the highest snowdepth this winter with 68cm, although as usual Edmonton has had snow for the longest.