THUNDER BAY — After several days of unseasonably warm weather in northwestern Ontario, some people might be wearing jackets to warm up by the Victoria Day weekend.
Environment Canada is forecasting daily maximum temperatures well below normal on Saturday.
Thunder Bay reached 29 C on Tuesday, breaking a 67-year-old record for May 13.
Atikokan, Dryden and Kenora were among numerous other locations where longstanding records were surpassed, with temperatures reaching 31 C in all three communities.
But meteorologist Jeff Coulson said this pattern will take an abrupt shift toward the end of the week.
"Certainly in the near term, and looking at the forecast over the next couple of weeks, we expect to be settling back into a pattern of seasonal to somewhat cooler- than-seasonal temperatures, not just for Thunder Bay but for other parts of northwestern Ontario as well.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the predicted high temperature for Saturday in Thunder Bay, Atikokan, Dryden, Fort Frances and Kenora was between 9 C and 11 C, or between eight and nine degrees below normal for May 17.
On a more positive note, Coulson said longer-range forecast models currently point to the region being "a little bit warmer than normal" in June.
