So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that?

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 14:01:19 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 14:01:19 GMT

...for May we average a week or two above 20°C, and quite often we will reach 30°C.
About a third of the time our final frost is in April, but May often has a few of frosty nights.
And the airport recorded May snow in 2024. 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2015...
https://public.tableau.com/shared/5NNKDH4SW?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:34:17 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:34:17 GMT

...across the country most cities hung onto their snow into April this year. So while Edmonton was late, we had lots of company.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/NG4KDB5GQ?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:34:01 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:34:01 GMT

...it's tough to remember now, but the snow got a really late start this winter, waiting until November 28th.
But the final melt was about as late as we get, along with other late years like 2020, 2018 & 2013.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/DY46RZB4W?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:33:42 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:33:42 GMT

...for snowdepth, the airport and Stony Plain both got to 0cm on the 9th, but then bounced back up for a few days after that late storms.
Blatchford got to 0cm on the 20th, and Elk Island finally got there on the 29th.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/8DBZR4R2F?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:32:52 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:32:52 GMT

...the biggest snow day of April 2026 was St. John's 18.6cm on the 4th, followed by Calgary's 15.2cm on the 2nd.
Edmonton's biggest day was 5.4cm on the 7th.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/JJC8WD89C?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:32:36 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:32:36 GMT

...after a quiet start to winter, Calgary got 47.8cm of snow in March (7th snowiest) and 37.2cm in April (19th snowiest).
Together that's their 5th snowiest March and April on record.
It brings them to 148cm for the winter, which is right on average.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/84M4PRJ8K?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:32:17 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:32:17 GMT

...this messy chart is the snow totals across the country.
St. John's is way out in the lead with 522cm, while its average is around 330cm.
Charlottetown was next with 305cm, while its average is closer to 500cm.
Toronto's 190cm was its 11th snowiest winter.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/DHH34XSMY?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:31:54 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:31:54 GMT

...everyone wants the snow to be over, but in May we do average another 5cm.
About half of the time May is snowfree. The other half will usually be done around the first week, but 2011 waited until June 4th.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/QR6ZP3T6F?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:31:36 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:31:36 GMT

...by the end of April we average around 113cm of total snowfall.
This winter we're up to 133.5cm, which is our snowiest winter since 2018's 160cm.
Almost half of this year's snow was the 60cm from our very snowy December.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/7PCS6Q6CW?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:31:21 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:31:21 GMT

...on average April gets 13cm of snow, and we almost always get at least a bit.
2026 was just above average with with 14.8cm.
But April had 9 days with snow, while the average is only around 5.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/BQ89X75SZ?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:30:55 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:30:55 GMT

...across the country April was cold on the prairies (and St. John's), and warmish everywhere else.
That ranged from Saskatoon with Highs -3.7°C below their 20th century average, to Kelowna at 2.6°C above theirs.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/X42PJHZS8?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:22:07 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:22:07 GMT

...April 2026 gets a medium blue/cold bubble.
The average High of 8.3°C was -2.3°C colder than the 20th century average. The average Low of -2.6°C was -1.2°C colder.
So April & March weren't warm.
Other years with cool springs were 2020, 2018, 2017, 2014, 2013...
https://public.tableau.com/shared/2CZR223G3?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:21:43 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:21:43 GMT

...in spite of all this, the average date of Blatchford's final frost is just one week away, on May 6th.
2025's was pretty late on May 16st, while 2024, 2023 & 2020 were all done around April 20th.
Stony Plain's average is May 10th, while the airport's is May 25th.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/63ZHPGRND?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:21:12 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:21:12 GMT

...April averages 14 above-freezing Lows, and in 2026 we only got 6. That's the fewest since 2013.
Sometimes April starts off really cold, like -21°C in 2020 & -18°C in 2020. While 2026 wasn't warm, its coldest Low was only -8.5°C.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/PNXGRF6BM?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:20:51 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:20:51 GMT

...April's Lows didn't have a huge range, from -8.5°C on the 1st up to 2.9°C on the 20th.
Overall 18 were below, including 4 which were the coldest in 30 years. 12 were above average.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/JZ4CR24DB?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:20:36 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:20:36 GMT

...this is just a comparison of the March-April Highs for 2026 to some of our colder recent springs, like 2020, 2013 & 2002.
2002 had our 2nd coldest March-April on record, and the average High was 5°C colder than this year.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/X3BH7NMTR?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:20:08 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:20:08 GMT

...January had 6 5°C Highs in-a-row, and February had 12.
But since spring started we've only had a few here or there, then one 6 day stretch (and by April, 5°C isn't even a warm day).
So winter felt more like spring than spring has so far.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/8RPYQS553?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:18:54 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:18:54 GMT

...a "funny" thing about this spring is that it just hasn't been able to string together more than a few warm days in-a-row.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/QRX4WM5W4?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:18:32 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:18:32 GMT

...April 2026 actually had 3 Highs get to 20°C, when we average 2.
But April also averages 16 10°C Highs, and we only got 11.
It had 2 below-freezing Highs, which is typical. But one was in the final week. Recently only 2013, 2008 & 2005 got that cold, that late.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/TPS7J9THY?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:18:09 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:18:09 GMT

...April's Highs were all over the place, ranging from 23.3°C on the 30th to -2.1°C on the 25th (our 3rd coldest April 25th on record).
Overall 19 Highs were below average, and 3 of those were the coldest in 30 years. 11 Highs were above average.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/P3NHWZK5Z?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:17:49 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:17:49 GMT

...April is a rare month (along with October) which hasn't warmed up much over the past century.
Its average Lows have crept up by 2°C, while its Highs have actually gotten slightly colder.
In comparison January is up by 8-10°C, and even July is up by 2-4°C.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/5HRP638BY?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

Reply to So we've reached the end of March and it's time for...wait, what's that? on Fri, 01 May 2026 13:17:32 GMT

yegwxnerdery@mstdn.ca — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:17:32 GMT

...so yes, April 2026 was cold.
The average High of 8.3°C was the 111th warmest on record.
The average Low of -2.6°C was 105th.
But that's in the same range as 2020 & 2018, and warmer than 2013.
And that's about 6°C warmer than a typical March.
https://public.tableau.com/shared/7FDH9BPR6?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link