The first day of spring has come and gone, but if weather should be any indicator it’s unlikely anyone would have noticed.
Tuesday’s dump of snow warned that while the calendar may say spring is here, the weather would like to embrace winter for a little while longer.
“Spring is kind of on hold at the moment,” said weather behavior specialist Ron Lakeman.
“It is not a typical spring, but it is expected as a result of the La Nina we’ve had all winter and it is very similar to what we had last March. We’ve had some very active weather the last few weeks and Tuesday’s snow was all part of that.”
Other parts of the country like Winnipeg have been seeing temperatures in the high teens, and Toronto is already seeing temperatures above 20 degrees.
While Lakeman says the weather in the West Kootenay will start to show more signs of spring soon, it’s likely to be a few more weeks before the season fully arrives.
“There are some small steps toward spring, but as far as getting something similar to what they’ve been enjoying in other parts of the country, I don’t foresee that in the next week, but maybe as we get into April things will get better.”
Lakeman said another system expected to come in tonight could mean more rain and up to 10 cm of snow in some parts of Nelson.
“The weekend at this point is looking a bit unsettled, but it does look milder. There is the hope that we will be melting snow on a daily basis and getting back to something a bit more normal. But the overall pattern still looks rather unsettled though the next week or two,” said Lakeman.
Although April is expected to bring weather that more closely resembles spring, Lakeman said below normal temperatures are likely.
“The expectation for the month of April at the moment is still for cooler than normal temperatures and near normal precipitation. That sort of pattern could continue into May.”
Things are expected to look up however for those seeking sizzling summer heat.
“June at the moment is looking normal as far as temperatures… July and August are really tough to say [at this point] but some early indicators are suggesting that is will be a relatively warm, dry summer.”