The last two months combined have been among the coldest ever

This early and cold winter is not quite a record-breaker, but it’s not far off.

While we’ve seen a dramatic improvement in the weather in recent days, the last two months combined still make for bleak reading.

An unofficial glance at historical data suggests the cold trend in November that refused to back off in December made for a combined average temperature of -3.95C.

That ties the fourth coldest average ever record for those two months, dating from 1996.

The coldest ever stretch over November and December combined was in 1985 at -6.4C.

“November was the fourth coldest, and December the ninth coldest [on record],” Environment Canada meteorologist Alyssa Charbonneau said. “Certainly, two very cold months in a row dominated by a few Arctic outbreaks and of course, culminating with that stretch of very cold weather at the end of December.”

La Niña influence

The next seven days will be bearable, with warmer than seasonal averages expected overnight, but Charbonneau said it’s too early to say if we’ve seen the last of those Arctic blasts.

“Could we see more for the rest of the winter? Yes, it’s still possible,” she explained, noting we’re still in a La Niña weather pattern, at least for the next couple of months, before things may transition to more neutral conditions.

La Niña refers to broader weather patterns and how storm systems are influenced by surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific.

“During La Niña winters, we can see colder than normal temperatures… so, it’s too soon to say we’re safely out of the woods, [but] we don’t see a return to anything extreme in the coming seven days," she said.

“This will be our third winter in a row where La Niña conditions are in place. It often, although not always, tends to give us a more northerly pattern where we see the flow of storms coming from the north, and northwest bringing cooler air across the province of B.C.”