Ottawa gets 'gold medal for winter misery,' climatologist says

Environment Canada's senior climatologistisn't mincing words when it comes to the winter Ottawanshaveendured.

"If I was awarding the gold medal for winter misery I think it would go to Ottawa," Dave Phillips told host Robyn Bresnahan on Ottawa MorningFriday. "You people have dealt with freezing rain, the ice pellets, the cold, the snow.

"You've dealt with a tough winter," Phillips confirmed. "You haven't got any kind of break."

But before we wish for an abrupt end to winter, Phillips warned, we should be wary of the potential for spring flooding.

"I think we want kind of a normal spring where we ease out of winter ... because of all the snow sitting on the ground there," Phillips said. "In Ottawa you had 50 per centmore snow there than you'd normally get."

Phillips saidthe first two weeks of March will remainunseasonably chilly before themilder weather finally arrives.

Ottawa's not alone in its misery: the capital has plenty of company, with below-average temperatures chilling Canadians fromcoast to coast to coast.

Don't put the shovels away just yet: historically, Ottawagets more than 40 centimetresof snow after March 1.

In the short term, the thermometer isset to rise to just below freezing over the weekend before colder temperatures return next week.