THUNDER BAY — A month of “rollercoaster weather” is set to conclude with several days of unseasonably mild weather heading into the weekend, Environment Canada reports.
The agency is forecasting highs above zero beginning on Wednesday and lasting until Saturday, when a high of 7 C and a low of -4 C are called for.
Throughout the month, temperatures have ranged from a balmy 21 C on Nov. 3 to an unusually low -19.8 C on Nov. 20, approaching historic extremes at both ends of the thermometer.
“We’ve had a bit of rollercoaster weather this month — very warm weather to begin the month… and then we hit bottom just in the last few days,” said Peter Kimbell, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada.
Sunday’s low of -19.8 C compared to an average of -8.9 C for Nov. 20, and an all-time low temperature of -22.2 C recorded in 1978.
Temperatures have already bounced back to reach warmer-than-usual levels, Kimbell said, on their way to a projected high of 7 C by Saturday.
That would be well above the average high of -1.4 C for Nov. 26, and approaching the record high of 9.4 C recorded in 1962.
The relatively warm temperatures come thanks to a jet stream bringing warmer air from the west, Kimbell said.
“Over the next couple of days, a big ridge of high pressure is going to be building over the prairies and then pushing eastward, bringing that mild weather … with highs of plus six or plus seven on Friday and Saturday over Northern Ontario.”
He expects weather to begin cooling on Sunday, which had a forecasted high of -1 C as of Tuesday, and return to normal by early next week, when snow will also be possible.
