2015 Newsmakers: Winter off to a warmer start in York Region

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 31, 2015
By Chris Simon

What a difference a year makes.

By the end of December 2014, York Region had been pounded by several winter storms. And throughout the winter months of early 2015, the area was in a deep freeze, with regular extreme cold weather alerts being issued.

But this December, golfers were playing courses and residents could be seen wearing fall jackets well into the month. We had a green Christmas and the first significant accumulation of late 2015 didn't take place until Dec. 28.

Locally, Pheasant Run, St. Andrew’s Valley and Westview golf courses were all open earlier this month.

El Nino - an occurrence when warm water near the equator migrates to Atlantic and Pacific shores - is causing unusually high temperatures on the North American East Coast, while western regions are largely blanketed in snow.

Though the mild weather has extended the season for some summer sports enthusiasts, it's had negative implications on typical winter recreation such as snowmobiling, ice fishing and skiing. There's even been controversy surrounding local outdoor skating, as Markham council nearly banned the practice on the historic Toogood Pond, before eventually backing off and advising skaters to venture out onto the ice 'at their own risk'.

The warmer weather also means more people are taking advantage of the York Region forest and its extensive trail system. While the system is open year-round and is well used for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter, there's little doubt warm weather pursuits are more popular amongst users, region natural heritage and forestry manager Ian Buchanan said.

"We are a very low maintenance experience; the trails are maintained by Mother Nature," he said. "The people who enjoy the fall walks (were) really enjoying the extended fall. I've never seen the crowds at the region forests as I did this fall.”

Buchanan estimates there’s a five to 10-fold increase in visitors to the forest during the warm weather months, when compared to winter usage.

There were times this summer when the temperatures hinted at the potential for a mild fall - the region issued an extreme heat warning July 28, a total of three heat warnings in July and August and a heat advisory Aug. 25.

But what's in store for the remainder of the winter? Likely warmer than normal temperatures, Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips said in a recent interview.

“I love the fall,” he said. “It’s my favourite season. Problem is it’s usually only three weeks long. This year it’s been three months long. It’s a bonus. We’ve been booking tee times instead of waxing skis. This could be the opening act for our winter to come.”

El Nino also means Canada won’t suffer the polar vortex that put us in a deep freeze last winter, Phillips said.

The changing ocean patterns create an atmospheric circulation shift, affecting weather globally. This often translates into milder temperatures and drier than normal weather throughout North America.

“We’ve been on a roll,” Phillips said of temperatures since the official end of summer Sept. 23.

We’ve enjoyed three balmy months to date, each between 2.5 C and 3.5 C higher than normal, he said. As of Dec. 1, we’ve only had 4.4 centimetres of snow, compared to an accumulation of 23 cm a year ago.

“With it being milder, we may see less snow than last year,” Phillips said. “Snow won’t last. It’ll melt. That means less shovelling.”