More than 1/2 normal snowfall, mild temperatures: New Brunswick's wacky winter weather
CBC
If it felt like a winter without much snow in New Brunswick, it's not you. Fredericton-based meteorologist Jill Maepea said it didn't just feel different — it actually was different.
"In terms of the snowfall this winter, many areas, right from November to April 1, got anywhere from 25 to 50 per cent of their normal snowfall," said Maepea.
She said on the lower end of that spectrum would be southern areas, including Fredericton, Woodstock, Saint John and Moncton, while more northern areas may have had 50 to 75 per cent of their normal snowfall.
And it wasn't just a lack of snowfall — temperatures were also much warmer than usual.
David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said fall 2023 in New Brunswick was the fourth warmest in three-quarters of a century.
And winter was the second warmest in 77 years, he said, only 0.1 degree away from the warmest winter on record.
"It was not just the fact that you stuck a thermometer in the province and it seemed warmer than normal — it was consistently warm," said Phillips. "Every month, every winter month, averaged about three to five degrees warmer than normal.
"People kept waiting for the shoe to drop, they kept waiting for the cold arctic air to arrive. It never did," Phillips said.
For example, a typical cold day in New Brunswick would be around –20 C, and Charlo, in northern New Brunswick, would usually get around 28 of those days in an average winter, said Phillips.
But this winter, Charlo only had five of those –20 C or below days.
And there was twice as much rain as there was snow during most winter months in New Brunswick.
For most people, the lack of snow and warmer temperatures might not have been a concern. For the recreation sector, Phillips said, it was very upsetting, with cancelled pond hockey games, lacklustre snowmobiling conditions and risky ice fishing.
Phillips said there are a few reasons for the warm winter, including El Niño — a climate pattern that contributes to unusual warming of ocean temperatures.
But he said none of this means next year will be just as warm or snowless.
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