Weather In Review 2003

As we ended 2002, the prediction for 2003 was for above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation for the first quarter. So much for predictions! January ushered in some of the coldest temperatures Ottawa had experienced in a decade. New Years Day was a balmy + 0.1oC but things went downhill from there. The high on January 14 managed to climb all the way to 18.9 degrees and highs stayed in the negative double digits for almost a week. February wasnt much better. A brief warming spell resulted in some early February rain, but the longer cold spell kept people indoors so Winterlude 2003 was quite a contrast to the year before where it had been "Waterlude". The February 13th high of - 19.8 degrees set a new record for the lowest high for that day!

By the end of February we were eagerly searching for some sign of spring. The first two days of March were promising with temperatures sneaking above the zero mark. After all, Wiarton Willy predicted an early spring!! So much for ground hogs - By March 3, a winter storm blasted through with temperatures dropping from +1 to -16 degrees in just two hours. The last half of March brought us warmer temperatures and some enthusiastic gardeners set about doing their spring tasks such as raking lawns. A late April snowfall quickly covered their handiwork. Spring peculiarities continued! With snow still on the ground, rising temperatures on April 9 and 10 heralded the first air quality warning of the year - a full two months earlier than normal.

April showers are supposed to bring May flowers - except when they continue all through April and May. While April ended with some 54.8 mm of precipitation - 15 millimetres less than normal, May ended with over 122 mm of precipitation - some 44 millimeters over normal. While wet, it wasnt record setting. The record for May of 165 mm. set in 1986 still holds. Throughout this period, temperatures also hovered slightly below normal.

June finally brought warm temperatures but even more moisture. By mid-June, precipitation surpassed the normal monthly levels. At least temperatures started to pass the 30 degree mark. The 33.2oC on June 24 set a record for that day - breaking the 1987 record.

Environment Canada was predicting a "Goldilocks Summer" - one that would be neither too hot nor too cold. Precipitation was about 20 percent below normal and August was warmer than July. Depending on what you planned for your weekends, it may have seemed to rain more often than that. Of the 33 weekend and holiday days from May 17 to August 24, there was rain on 21 of them. Not a lot - just enough to threaten or to put a damper on outdoor plans. Not how Goldilocks would want it. Temperature-wise we were only slightly warmer than normal. On average, Ottawa summers have 11 days with temperatures over 30 degrees but the summer of 2003 brought us 14 such days.

Fall was moderate and dry. September ended with 20 mm. of precipitation below normal. Perfect for tidying up and cleaning the garden. The first killing frost hit my garden the morning of October 3 - unfortunately this was also the day a west coast friend was expecting a garden tour! The rest of the month was especially wet making it difficult to scoop the rest of the garden material. Unusual thunderstorms raced through Ottawa on the night of October 20. By the end of the month, over 150 mm. of precipitation had fallen compared to our normal amount of 72.1 mm.

Early November brought us our first bout of freezing rain and the month remained relatively chilly and damp. Our first significant snowfall arrived November 29 and was accompanied by heavy winds. Again, precipitation of 86.2 mm exceeded the normal by 10 mm. No need for the annual pre-winter soaking of evergreens! The snow that arrived in late November and early December slowly disappeared from areas exposed to sunshine. By Christmas, the only snow to be found was in shaded area or where plows had left those early piles. Almost a totally green Christmas!

How, one wonders, are those perennials surviving with such limited snow coverage? Based on the Environment Canada forecast, our 2004 summer season is going to be cooler and wetter than normal. It might be another year for begonias!!

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