Why a cool spring got colder

If it seems to you like it's been a cool spring on P.E.I. you'd be right, but that feeling may be coloured by the last 10 days in particular.

It's not unusual for weather in the Maritimes to be up and down. This spring has certainly been that way, and until early May that up and down pretty much evened out.

From March 20, the first day of spring, until May 3 there were more days with an above-average high temperature, 26 of 46, but the cool days were cooler than the warm days were warm. Overall, the average high temperature for those first 46 days, roughly the first half of the season, was a little lower than average.

• Average: 6.1 C.
• 2020: 5.9 C.

And then it suddenly went from cool to cold.

"A blocking pattern has resulted in a persistent dip in the jet stream over the eastern half of the country, which has allowed a cooler, more winter-like air mass to persist," said CBC meteorologist Jay Scotland.

"It's almost like a stubborn guest that just doesn't want to leave."

Ten of the last 11 days have failed to reach the average high temperature, and it hasn't really even been close. While the average high should have been 12.5 C, it's been more than four degrees lower than that, 8.1 C.

Long range forecasting models are never a guarantee, said Scotland, but he said all signs point to a milder second half of May.

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