Rejoice! Spring is here!
Posted Mar 20, 2011 7:42 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
We usher out winter, and welcome spring, Sunday afternoon.
But don’t put the snow shovel away, because that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ve seen the end of the winter weather.
Spring officially begins at 5:21pm Sunday, when the sun’s rays are directly over the equator.
While spring is usually associated with green grass, blooming flowers, leafing trees and warmer weather in Southern Alberta, it’s also known for its big snowstorms. When it snows in the spring, it really snows — just not as frequently. It’s the season of the 30-40 centimetre snowstorms with warmer air increasing the moisture content of the snow.
The biggest one-day snowfall that we’ve ever had in Calgary, 48.7 centimetres, which lambasted Calgary on May 6th, 1981.
It’s also a season of increasing warmth. Sunday’s average high is 5 degrees, but that rises to an average of 21 on the last day of spring.
