Whitehorse had winter without extremes, says meteorologist

The Whitehorse area has had a winter without extremes, at least so far, says Environment Canada meteorologist Andre Besson.

Spring has officially begun and the temperatures are mild, but the city still has a week left in March and all of April when there could be wintry days.

While this has been the warmest winter on record for the planet, it didn't even make the top 10 for Whitehorse, Besson says.

He says maximum temperatures were only slightly above normal.

This winter did stand out, however, for the lack of extreme cold, he says.

"Minimum temperatures were fairly mild compared to normal, especially the minimum temperatures, so the temperatures we experience usually early in the morning," Besson says.

This was the sixth warmest winter on record in terms of minimums, he says, and there were no days in Whitehorse with a reading of -40 C or below.

Those mid-range winter temperatures were ideal for people like Michelle Phillips of Tagish, Yukon, who runs sled dog trips for tourists.

​"Lots of sun and lots of warm, and they can really enjoy the environment more than just worrying about staying warm, you know."

"When it's 30, 40 below, it's pretty hard for people who aren't used to the climate to spend much time outside," says Phillips.

A lack of snow, however, in areas of Yukon was a problem for some tourism operators, she says.

An unusual feature this winter was the number of days without snowfall, confirms Besson.

"When we look at the number of days with precipitation, so precipitation meaning over 0.2 millimetres of precipitation for that day, we've had the second fewest number of days with precipitation on record," he says.

Overall, there was 77.7% of normal precipitation over the winter.

Besson says warm air over the Pacific Ocean, off North America, contributed to the warmer winter in Yukon and B.C.