It’s snowed about half as much this winter compared to last at Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario

Pearson Airport in Mississauga — and other parts of the GTA — has seen a wild swing in winter weather conditions the past few weeks.

From heavy snow and high winds to icy conditions and, on several different occasions, dense fog, airport officials have seen it all — and they’ve made note many times on social media about the various winter elements faced by Pearson ground crews and both arriving and departing flights.

And then there’s the extreme wintry conditions elsewhere across Canada, the U.S. and as far away as Europe that have impacted flights into and out of Pearson the last three weeks.

Many flights during the early part of 2024 have been delayed, cancelled and diverted. And in a particularly unique experience for one set of passengers and crew, an Air Canada flight that left Pearson earlier this week for Newfoundland wound up back where it started after seven hours in the sky and three failed landing attempts at St. John’s International Airport.

Through it all, though, Pearson officials revealed earlier today via social media that it’s actually been a mild winter at the airport and surrounding areas, at least in terms of snowfall.

The amount of snow measured at Pearson so far this winter is down dramatically — almost by half — compared to the same time period during the 2022/23 winter season.

“It’s looking like some potentially record-setting warmer weather is on tap for us today,” airport officials said in a post to X (formerly Twitter). “While we are prepared with state-of-the-art snow removal equipment, we have only seen 40.4 cm of snow this winter — about 34 cm less compared to the same time period last year.”

In addition, Pearson officials noted in a social media post this afternoon, the temperatures have warmed up significantly.

“Who knew we would be trading shovels for shorts this winter,” the airport’s latest post to X reads. “Environment Canada confirms the temperature at Toronto Pearson hit 13 C today, smashing the previous record of 10.6 C set in 1938, a record that predates the opening of what is now Toronto Pearson by six months.”

(Cover photo: Pearson Airport)