Weather report: January was « abnormally » mild

January was characterized by abnormally mild weather on the archipelago, as elsewhere in the province.

The Environment Canada report shows a difference of 4.8°C from normal, for an average of -1.6°C, says meteorologist Jean-Philippe Bégin.

He reminds us that the federal agency’s data for the Magdalen Islands was only compiled in the 1980s.

The Islands received about 50 centimetres of snow during the month out of a total of 110 millimetres of precipitation, which is slightly above the monthly norm.

The lack of cold and the few episodes of strong winds prevented the formation of ice cover in the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but the fate of the ice pack is not yet sealed, said Jean-Philippe Bégin.

The icy air mass that hit Quebec on last Friday night did not spare the Islands.  According to Jean-Philippe Bégin, the last episode of this type recorded in January on the archipelago dates back to 1982, when a feeling of -42 had frigid the population.