For much of southwestern Ontario, February didn't feel like February.
After examining a month when several temperature records fell, making it feel more like mid-spring than mid-winter, Environment Canada reported the warmest February ever for portions of the region.
Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson said, for example, that London experienced its mildest February in history.
"For London, the warmest February came for them with a temperature of 0.2 degrees Celsius, and beat the previous warmest February, of 2017, with a value of 0.1," said Coulson.
Sarnia-Lambton also saw record warmth for February, but barely, registering an average high of 1.37 degrees Celsius. The previous record, also in 2017, was 1.36.
Windsor-Essex did not break the monthly record, but Coulson said the region came close.
"The record for the warmest February ever [in Windsor] remains 2017, with an average temperature of 3.3 degrees Celsius, and this past February 2024, comes in with an average temperature of 2.9," said Coulson.
Although March has begun mild, Coulson has urged people not to be fooled, as winter is not technically over.
"It's still going to be notably milder than normal," said Coulson. "Highs on Wednesday and Thursday will range from eight to ten degrees. The normal high for this time of year is 4 [Celsius], so we're still going to be well above that. But, there are some hints that we may drop back to seasonal temperatures, for the second half of the weekend."
-with files from Maureen Revait
