Halifax breaks record for lowest end-of-year snowfall | 24CA News

Halifax had its first practically snowless December in 2022.

A Canadian meteorologist says town has set a brand new report for the bottom quantity of snowfall seen on the finish of a yr.

Jim Abraham, president of the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, stated the final time Halifax has gone via December with out seeing a minimum of two centimetres of snow on the bottom earlier than 2022, was in 2012 when the primary snowfall arrived on Dec. 30.

In 2022, snowfall at Halifax airport didn’t even come near that.

“We went right through December in Halifax with the total snow of only 1.4 centimeters,” Abraham stated. “We certainly haven’t had a two centimeters snowfall, so that is a new record.”

Some Haligonians are additionally shocked by the climate. Maggie Batsford stated she’s not used to heat winters.

“It’s strange that there’s no snow, and it’s also strange that it’s so warm,” she stated. “I think we’re really going to get hit hard in January and February to make up for this, that’s my opinion.”

Robert Gibson is considering of long-term impacts of such climate.

“I find that this is all because of global warming, climate change,” he stated. “I think, even though it’s nice to have a day like this, that we are going to have major, severe ongoing repercussions.”

Another report may very well be reached

Abraham stated town could break a second report too.

The newest the Halifax airport has seen the primary 5 centimetres of snow on the bottom was Jan. 15 in 2018.

The meteorologist stated there can be a pair days of rain subsequent week with potential for blended precipitation in a single day on Wednesday.

“It’s possible we’ll get a little bit of snow on Thursday morning, but it really doesn’t look like it’s going to break the record,” Abraham stated.

Looking forward, he stated, there’s a storm passing south of Nova Scotia but it surely’s nonetheless too quickly to inform if it’ll hit and miss Halifax.

“That’s really the next hope to get something significant for snowfall here in Halifax.”

1:58
Thousands of Quebecers nonetheless in the dead of night after main winter storm

Some western and central components of Canada, nonetheless, had giant snow storms and low temperatures final month.

In the final week of December, the Niagara Region in Ontario declared a state of emergency as a result of a extreme winter storm. Along the shores of Lake Erie, close to Fort Erie, Ont., homes had been lined in ice going into the brand new yr.

Quebec noticed a messy mixture of heavy snow and excessive winds knock out energy for greater than 350,000 clients throughout a late December storm.

Across the border, in Buffalo, N.Y., greater than 30 persons are reported to have died as a result of a blizzard.

Temperatures in Halifax ranged from a lowest of – 6 levels Celsius, as much as 13 levels within the final two weeks of December.

“There was a large cold trough in western parts of the country, while we stayed in kind of a warm ridge with storms coming from the southwest and passing north of us,” Abraham stated. “We were in warmer air, and much of the rest of Canada, and in fact western Canada, in very cold air.”

But, Abraham stated, Halifax could get heavy snow later within the winter, prefer it did in 2015.

“We do need snow,” he stated. “A snow cover is extremely important to protect the grasses and other sensitive plants. Certainly, critters like to bury themselves and hibernate under the snowpack and stay warm. We do need that snow for our water resources.”

And whereas the following few weeks are forecast to be fairly gentle, Abraham stated Nova Scotians ought to nonetheless put together for winter.

“Even a skin of snow… can actually be quite slippery on the highways. I imagine some folks haven’t even changed their snow tires,” he stated.

“That’s one actually vital piece of recommendation, that we’ll be getting winter and you need to be prepared for it.

— With recordsdata from Megan King. 

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