By Dr. Adam Fenech – Director, Climate Lab, University of Prince Edward Island
While the New Year brings thoughts of hope and renewal to the forefront, I cannot help but reflect on the year of wild weather that I have experienced on Prince Edward Island since moving from Toronto. Every year brings stories of wild weather no matter where you are, and PEI is no different. I just didn’t expect my first year to be one of such record-breaking weather. Here are my top three wild weather stories for 2012, and how they have affected PEI.
Number 3 – Record High Temperatures in March
The official arrival of spring in late March 2012 was more like the start of summer as historic warm weather shattered temperature records across Prince Edward Island. Daily temperatures in Charlottetown reached their warmest on record of 20.5◦C on March 21 and 24.5◦C on March 22 smashing previous records by as much as 7◦C. Islanders enjoyed the blast of warm weather moving in from the west by wearing short pants, walking in the parks and basking in the sunshine. It was my first introduction to PEI winter weather (I arrived three weeks earlier), and was wondering if I had moved to Florida.
Number 2 – Summer Drought
PEI’s summer growing season of 2012 saw less than half the normal amount of rainfall, a drought not seen on the Island for more than a decade. Continue reading
