Waterloo's weekend warmth melts a 137-year record

The warm temperatures over the weekend broke one weather record and Wednesday's high of 16 C is set to break another.

Saturday's temperature reached 11.9 C, which broke the record for Feb. 18 of 9.4 C set in 1880, making it the warmest Feb.18 in Waterloo Region since record keeping began.

• Latest Waterloo region conditions from CBC Weather

Sunday also came close to breaking a record. The temperature reached 10.2 C, just shy of the 10.5 C record set in 1984.

As for Wednesday, there is a high of 16 C is in the forecast which would "shatter" the existing record for Waterloo region, which is 12.8 C set in 1930,Environment Canada meteorologistGeoffCoulsontold CBC News.

The normal for this time of year is -2 C, he noted.

"I've been chatting with folks from Windsor throughToronto and eastwards and all of their records for Feb. 22 are at risk of being broken," he said.

"We usually see a few days in February that we do get significantly milder than normal weather. I think what's noteworthy about this particular stretch is just how long it's forecast to last."

La Nia is over

La Nia the colder phase of El Nio is over, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States has said..

NOAA tracks weather systems and climate and in its Feb. 9 report, it said neutral conditions have returned and are expected to continue in the northern hemisphere until spring.

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But that's not the reason we're seeing such warm temperatures now.

"It was a pretty weak one all along," Coulson said ofLa Nia, so he doesn't think it will mean much for the forecasts here in southern Ontario.

Mild but messy March

Coulson warned people shouldn't think this mild mid-February weather is the start of spring.

"I think there are a number of folks that would be more than willing to say the holiday weekend was the official start of spring and everything from now on will be great. But we've still got a long way to go," Coulson said.

In March, there will be some "messy weather" with a chance of snow and freezing rain, hesaid.

But as the days get longer,things are definitely looking more spring-like.

"After a seasonal start to the month of March, the forecast models are talking about the rest of March actually being a little bit milder than normal as well," Coulsonsaid.