PG records sixth-driest March on record

Prince George saw 10 days where the temperature did not surpass the freezing mark in March, capping off a cooler-than-normal month.

That’s according to Environment Canada.

Meteorologist, Armel Castellan told MyPGNow.com while it wasn’t record-shattering, the chilly conditions made their mark.

“Overall, the average temperature only hit -3.9 (degrees) and the actual average from 1981 to 2010 was only minus 0.2. That is good for the 17th coldest March on record dating back to 1913.”

“That was mostly due to the first week to 10 days where things kind of picked up right where February left off, which was very cold. We saw another arctic outbreak over that first week and things kind of averaged out and then finished off a little bit colder as well.”

“I even noted that 10 days (in March) didn’t go above zero degrees as the daytime high and the average for that is at four days. You had many days that didn’t go above zero and that was probably noted – even days that were above 10 degrees, I think there were only two and the average is five,” added Castellan.

While it was colder, last month was the sixth-driest March on record as the northern capital saw just 9.2 millimetres of precipitation – the normal mark for us is about 30mm.

As we flip the page to April, daytime highs will remain on the cool side until mid-week with the climax coming on the weekend with predicted daytime highs of 12 and 13 degrees.

“Things start to turn a little bit and warm up with a dry signature, sun and cloud, and temperatures in that eight and nine-degree period for the rest of the week.”

“PG will probably be warmer than seasonal for the first time since probably mid-February and the month of January where things were milder.”