Even though March is the month that can come in like a lion, it looks like the beast might be arriving a little early this year.
The chief meteorologist for the SaltWire Network said February is expected to bring more precipitation and colder temperatures than have been the norm for P.E.I. so far this winter.
Cindy Day said the leading edge of a system will affect P.E.I. late Monday, Feb. 1, and into Tuesday.
Because conditions will be relatively mild, Islanders can expect a mix of freezing rain, rain and then some snow behind it.
“And, that pulls up on the jet stream a little bit, so it will stay fairly mild for the rest of (next) week," Day said.
After that, however, it may be time to get out the snow shovels as a change in the jet stream will result in colder temperatures and more snow events.
“That’s going to settle winter in for the second half of the month. Don’t get too spoiled with this (mild weather)."
Day said it looks like P.E.I. is going to be on an active weather track, beginning in the second week of February.
“Essentially, January has been warmer than normal while the precipitation has averaged out because of the rain. February, when all is said and done, will be seasonal for temperatures with above-average precipitation."
As far as the numbers go, 49 centimetres of snow have been measured at the Charlottetown Airport so far in January, although 27 of it fell on Jan. 2. In terms of rainfall, 35 millimetres had fallen in Charlottetown as of Tuesday, with 26 millimetres of that total falling on Jan. 17.
Temperature-wise, the average for January is -7.7 C. The average for this month has been -4 C.
Click here for weather updates throughout the day from the SaltWire Network weather desk.
