Horrible Winter is Coming to Mississauga

Although we might have complained, we were spoiled by our hot summer and mild fall and, sadly, it looks like we might be in for a rude awakening this coming winter.

According to an article penned by meteorologist Dr. Doug Gillham for The Weather Network, this coming winter might suck (my words, not his).

Gillham writes that the past three winters have been memorable for different reasons (the first two for their bone-chilling coldness during the polar vortex and this past one for its relative mildness).

“Many are now asking whether we will see another mild winter across Canada like last year or should we expect a return to a colder pattern?,” he writes. “Our sneak peek at our winter forecast highlights a return to a more classic Canadian winter season from the Rockies to Atlantic Canada with only parts of B.C. expected to see above normal temperatures for the upcoming winter season.”

That means that everyone in Mississauga will get to experience a “classic” winter.

Although the Weather Network’s final winter forecast will be released on Nov. 21, it appears that they’re expecting “above normal snowfall” for the much of the Great Lakes region (sigh…) and southern Quebec.

The good news is that, as of now, there’s no indication that our luxuriously long fall is about to abruptly end.

“At this point, we think that winter will get off to a slower or inconsistent start with the colder pattern more likely to lock into place later in the winter (similar to what we saw in 2014-15). However, it is possible that the pattern will change more quickly (as it did in 2013). The timing of this pattern change should become more clear before we finalize our winter forecast for release on November 21,” Gillham writes.

Although many are wondering if the hot summer will be a factor in a cold winter, Gillham says it’s hard predict future weather based on current events. That said, he did say that the hot summer and warm fall in the Great Lakes region has, “left us with lake water temperatures that are well above what we typically see this time of year.”

While this won’t necessarily guarantee colder temperatures, it does suggest that, when arctic air arrives, some regions (like ours, unfortunately) will receive above-normal levels of snow.

Some patterns also suggest a potentially frigid winter is in store.

“Two features that stand out this fall are the large region of very warm water (relative to normal) west of British Columbia, and the warmer than normal water in the Atlantic Ocean east of Atlantic Canada and the U.S. East Coast. This bears some resemblance to the patterns during the falls of 2013 and 2014,” Gillham writes.

I think we all remember how awful the winter of 2014 was.

While we can all only hope for the best, we must prepare to accept that a potentially nasty ugly dirty foul awful terrible winter might be coming.

Boo.