Summer heat in the east, wicked wind in the westCTV.ca News Staff02/04/2010 9:53:54 PM
From Alberta to Newfoundland, Canadians have been basking in warmer than normal temperatures on the first long weekend of the spring.
In particular, Ontario and Quebec are enjoying record-breaking, summer-like conditions.
But in British Columbia on Friday, fierce winds disrupted ferry service, pulled down power lines and forced the closure of Vancouver's famous Lions Gate Bridge.
Ferry passengers sailing between Vancouver and Victoria described massive swells Friday afternoon, which were whipped up by winds which topped 100 kilometres per hour.
In Victoria, construction fences fell, trees were flattened and thousands were without power.
Across the country, however, the picture could not have been more different.
In the nation's capital, the temperature peaked out at a downright sizzling 28 Celsius under sunny skies.
That's a full 21 degrees higher than the normal forecast high for this time of year. The tally also shatters the city's 54-year-old record for April 2, which was only 16.7 C.
Locals didn't waste any time getting into the season, as patios in the ByWard Market filled up fast and local officials opened parks earlier than usual.
It usually takes until May 1 to open locations like the lanes by the Rideau Canal, the Ottawa River and the larger urban parks of the Ottawa region.
Montreal also enjoyed some smokin' weather, with a high of about 25 C Friday, which absolutely slays the previous record of 16 C.
Further south, Toronto edged into record warmth territory, exceeding a record that stood for more than 40 years.
At 2 p.m., the temperature at Pearson International Airport was 22.4 C. The previous record was 20.6 C, set on April 2, 1967.
For perspective, the record low for the day is - 6.1 C, set in 1962. A normal day would see a high of 9 C and a low of zero.
Winter-weary Maritimers haven't been left in the cold, either.
New Brunswick was getting plenty of sun on Good Friday, with Fredericton reaching a high of 19 C -- also a new record.
The average for this time of year in the city is only 6.4 C, according to Environment Canada.
With the exception of Winnipeg, the prairies have been mild, too.
Edmonton was expected to hit 13 C and Calgary was hitting double digits. Saskatoon was hovering around 13 C by 1 p.m. local time.
And people have the nerve to say that climate change is not a reality?
All my life growing up, there was one thing that I could be certain of... a wild wicked snowstorm during the first week of April. I cannot believe that it is April 3rd and we are experiencing summer like temperatures. I can remember digging myself out from under mountains of snow during the first week of April, ...but it's like summer out there. I'm not complaining mind you... I just think it's rather strange. I'm kind of glad because last year we didn't get summer like weather until the first week in September, ..and then it only lasted for 1 week, so I hope we get to make up for it this year. And all those groundhogs had predicted 6 more weeks of winter. lol What do those rodents know anyway?
