March 2022 Review

And now, let's take a look back at the weather for a surprisingly average March 2022.

High Temperatures

The Highs spent most of March 2022 bouncing around the average. The one big standout was March 23rd's 18.7°C, which was the 8th warmest March day on record in Edmonton. March's coldest High was -7.9°C on the 3rd, which is just a little cold.

On average March has 10 Highs below freezing, and in 2022 we had 12. March also averages 4 Highs of 10°C or more, and this year we had 4, including the very warm 18.7°C on the 23rd.

 

Warm Winter Days

For the extended winter months of November-March we had 78 Highs above freezing, when the average is about 71. And we had 45 Highs reach 5°C, compared to an average of 35.

 

Low Temperatures

For the Low temperatures March was mostly below average until the 12th, and after that it was mostly above average. Overall 14 Lows were below average, and 17 were above. The coldest Low was -19.1°C on the 11th.

March averages about 2 Lows of -20°C, and this year the closest that we got was -19.1°C. March 2022 also had 3 Lows of 0°C or more, which matches the average.

 

Cold Winter Days

This winter we had 32 Lows reach -20°C, when we average about 25. That included 17 Lows of -25°C, when the average is 12.

We had 4 Lows reach -30°C, which made this the first time since 1972 when 5 consecutive winters have had 3 or more -30°C Lows.

Overall the winter of 2021-2022 was fairly mild, except for the giant, 3-week deepfreeze in December-January. There were a few random cold days scattered throughout the winter, but the giant deepfreeze had most of them.

 

Warm & Cold Months

With a mix of warm and cool days March 2022's average temperatures end up very close to our recent average. The average High of 2.8°C was our 45th warmest on record. The average Low of -7.5°C was 48th warmest.

Compared to other months March 2022 is a fairly small orange bubble. The average High was 1.9°C warmer than the 20th century average, while the Low was 2.1°C warmer. That follows a very warm March in 2021, and a cool one in 2020.

Average temperatures for the whole winter from November-March were a little below our recent average, but above the long-term average. The average winter High of -2.9°C was our 49th warmest, and the Low of -11.8°C was 53rd.

 

The Horserace

After 3 months of 2022, so far January-March ranks as our 29th warmest overall. On an annualized basis the Highs & Lows are both around 0.7°C warmer than the 20th century average.

 

Across Canada

Across the country March 2022 was a little bit above average...except in Winnipeg...again.

Winnipeg just couldn't catch a break this winter, with a very cold (even for them) February, and a below-average December, January and March.

For November-March the Highs for all of these cities (except Winnipeg) were above their 20th Century averages. For the Lows Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Halifax and St. John's were above their 20th Century averages, while the others were cooler.

 

Cold Days Across Canada

For the cities which get really cold, all of these cities were a little above average for -20°C Lows this winter. They also had more -25°C Lows than average, especially in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

For -30°C Lows Edmonton and Calgary were a little high, but not unusual. Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg all had the most since the winter of 2013-2014. And Ottawa had its first -30°C since 2017-2018 (and before that, 2008-2009).

 

Snowfall

In March we average 20cm of snowfall, and March 2022 was just a bit above that with 21.5cm. February and January were also very average, while December was high and November was low.

For the winter so far we have had 108.6cm of snow, which is a little above average for the end of March. This isn't the end of our snow season though, because April and May average another 20cm.

 

Snowdepth

At the end of March the snowdepth at the 3 local stations has almost all melted off. The airport is down to 2cm. Campsie and Stony Plain hit 0cm on the 23rd and 24th respectively, but then bounced back up after the late snowfalls.

Being snowfree (or almost snowfree) at the end of March is a little early for us, and it beats 2020, 2018, 2014, 2013 and 2011.

This is the full history of snowdepth at the local stations, and a comparison of the years which were snowfree on March 31st (like 2021), and the years which weren't.

No snow measurements from Blatchford this year, but Campsie and Stony Plain had snow on the ground for 127 and 128 days in-a-row respectively (the airport is still counting). That's a little low, with a late start in mid-November, and an early end in late-March.

 

Snow Across Canada

A messy chart, with snowfall so far for all these cities.

Vancouver is at the bottom at 37cm. Calgary, Halifax and Edmonton are from 82-108cm. St. John's is way up at 262cm. And everyone else is in the big pack from Montréal with 157cm to Ottawa with 188cm.

Calgary's snow this winter is really low, Winnipeg's is really high, Toronto is really high, and Halifax is really low.

For big snowfalls it was a quiet winter, with only 3 20cm+ days: Toronto with 29cm, St. John's with 36cm, and Ottawa with 48cm. For 10cm+ days Calgary had 0, Vancouver and Edmonton 1, Montréal and Halifax 3, Winnipeg, Toronto and Ottawa 4, and St. John's 9.

At the end of March Edmonton and Winnipeg were the only cities left with snow on the ground. Ottawa had the deepest overall snowdepth this winter, with 52cm in early February.

 

April Temperatures

For April, on average we only get 3 Highs below 0°C. Most Aprils will will reach 20°C, and 2001, 2015, 2016, and 2018 all reached 25°C. In recent years April 2020 and 2018 both started quite cold, including a Low of -20.8°C on April 2nd, 2020.

 

April (and May) Snow

And we will almost certainly see some more snow. April averages 15cm, and May averages 5cm, and on average we get another ~6 snowfalls before summer.