P.E.I.’s two largest cities have smashed temperature records two days in a row.
After a downright painful cold snap that lasted more than a week, Islanders were treated to some extremely mild weather Wednesday and Thursday.
In Charlottetown and Summerside, temperatures reached record levels for Jan. 30 and Jan. 31.
Linda Libby, meteorologist with Environment Canada, said temperatures in Charlottetown on Wednesday peaked at plus 9.9 degrees Celsius, breaking the old Jan. 30 record that had stood for more than a century.
The old record was plus 7.8 degrees, a mark established in 1910.
In Summerside, temperatures reached plus 8.7 degrees on Wednesday, breaking the old Jan. 30 record of 7.2 degrees set in 1938.
Things were downright spring-like on Thursday.
It was 11.2 degrees as of 1 p.m. in Charlottetown, shattering the old Jan. 31 record set in 1938 when the capital city reached 8.9 degrees.
Summerside was at 11 degrees at 1 p.m., topping the old Jan. 31 mark of 8.9 degrees set in 1953.
“That’s two days in a row that we’ve hit records . . . and records are being set all over the Maritimes,’’ Libby said. “People seem to be in a better mood but it’s not going to last long.’’
Temperatures were expected to drop to -6 Thursday night. On Saturday, temperatures aren’t forecasted to rise above -12 degrees. The norm for this time of year is a high of -4 and a low of -13.
On the bright side, Libby says the third week and the last week of January are traditionally the coldest days on P.E.I. so the worst should be in the rearview mirror.
And, while all the numbers aren’t in yet, January 2013 is looking like one of the driest months in some time on P.E.I., as least as far as snow is concerned.
