P.E.I.'s top weather stories of 2016

Regardless of what else happened last year, one thing is certain 2016 gave Islanders noshortage of weather conversation topics.

Adam Fenech from the UPEI Climate Lab stopped by Island Morning to give his top three weather stories of 2016.

See-sawing winter temperatures

Last winter was different, to say the least.

There were of course frigid moments, but those traditional Canadian temperatures were often interrupted with relatively balmy temperatures. This led to some unexpected consequences.

"Firefighters in St. Eleanorshad to put out a grass fire as a result of the soaring February temperatures for the first time in at least 30 years," said Fenech.

• Unseasonably warm and wet in P.E.I. before winter rears its head again

It also put a damper on some Island activities.

"That poor Jack Frost Festival that's held annually in Charlottetown [the opening was delayed] due to the warm and wet weather," said Fenech.

It was enough to make you sick literally.

"It's not great for also our health. We tend to get a lot more flus and colds when we have [those]see-sawing winter temperatures," said Fenech.

Intense localized rainfall

There's nothing harmful or unexpected about rain in the summertime. But on July 24 the rain came down in deluge proportions over parts of the Island thoughyou could be forgiven for thinking it never happened.

"It kind of manoeuvred its way between all of the official weather stations that are operated by Environment Canada," said Fenech.

• Heavy rain damages Montague, P.E.I., streets

Fenech said that many weather stations picked up no precipitation. The residents of Montague noticed regardless.

"[They] had over 75 millimetres, actually in some places over 100 millimetres, of rain falling in just over an hour," said Fenech.

The warmest year on record?

While it hasn't been confirmed, Fenech said he feels comfortable in saying that 2016 will go down as the warmest year on record globally. This was given a boost by a returning visitor.

"The world meteorological organization reported that we were boosted by this El Nio phenomenon, that's the temporary change in climate that happens every few years," said Fenech, adding that the increase in temperatures was especially pronounced in the Arctic.

• 2016 on track to beat heat record despite slowdown in CO2 emissions

"Just before Christmas [they] had temperatures [that] were almost 30 C warmer than average. That's really incredible," said Fenech.

Fenech said the global temperature was close to 1 C above average. It might not sound like much, but Fenech said even small changes can alter the climate drastically.

"If they were going in the other direction, if it was 5 C colder globally on average, we'd be in the middle of a glacier time with two kilometresof ice above our heads," said Fenech.

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