TORONTO —
We have good news for the many parts of Canada that are still struggling through unusually and even historically cold temperatures: The end is in sight.
Yes, spring is still nearly five weeks away – but according to Environment Canada senior climatologist Dave Phillips, it won’t even take one week for most of the country to see a big warmup.
“There is light at the end of the tunnel,” Phillips said Sunday on CTV News Channel.
Much of Canada has spent the past two weeks under a polar vortex – the term given to cold air from the Arctic pushing much farther south than usual due to a weakened jet stream.
The vortex helped create the coldest temperature recorded anywhere in Canada in nearly four years. A temperature of -51.9 C was recorded in Wekweeti, N.W.T. on Feb. 7.
The effects haven’t stopped at the treeline, though, or even at the Canada-U.S. border. Phillips said the vortex has “covered a good chunk of North America … from British Columbia to the Yukon down to Mississippi.”
It was early Sunday afternoon at Phillips’ home in Ontario when he spoke to CTV News Channel. A quick glance at the conditions across Canada at that time shows just how far the vortex extends.
The warmest major cities in the country were Vancouver and Victoria, B.C., where the temperature had already reached the freezing mark and was expected to rise by a degree or two as the day progressed, turning significant snowfall into mixed precipitation. On a normal Valentine’s Day, though, both of those cities experience high temperatures around 8 C.
With forecast highs only a few degrees below freezing, it wasn’t shaping up to be that much colder than a usual Feb. 14 in Atlantic Canada. Likewise for the heavily populated areas of southern Ontario and southern Quebec.
In the North, though, and especially on the Prairies, the conditions were abnormally cold even for the dead of winter.
Four of the five largest cities in Manitoba set daily low-temperature records on Saturday. In Winnipeg, the record that was broken dated back nearly to Confederation: the cold bottomed out at -37.9 C on Feb. 13, 1879, and never got colder on that date until this time around when it hit -38.8 C.
It was also the coldest Feb. 13 on record in more than 15 communities in Saskatchewan. In Melfort, Sask., the mercury plunged to -41.7 C, more than two degrees below the low on the previous coldest Feb. 13, which occurred in 1936.
Although similar cold continued to grip the Prairies and the North, Phillips said forecasts are showing significantly warmer conditions before the end of the week.
In Edmonton, temperatures are expected to still drop down around -20 C overnight through Wednesday – but as of Sunday, forecasts called for the Alberta capital to experience above-freezing temperatures on Friday for the first time since Jan. 20.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Phillips said.
Looking ahead, Phillips said he expects spring conditions to be normal in most of Canada, maybe even slightly warmer – and while March 20 is still more than a month away, he doesn’t foresee the polar vortex returning before then.
“You can’t write the obituary on winter quite yet, but I think the toughest part of winter is clearly behind us,” he said.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
