A tale of two winters: Blooms in Vancouver, blizzards in Toronto
Posted on: Feb 06, 2026 14:30 IST | Posted by: Cbc
i metropolis is in flower, piece another freezes below a blanket of snow.
Canada's extreme winters bring all kinds of surprises along the country's vast and varied landscape, and this year, those contrasts are especially sharp between two of its biggest cities, Vancouver and Toronto.
Vancouver has experienced an unusually warm winter, on track to be its first without snow in 43 years.
The city is already looking lush and green after one of its warmest Januarys on record. Some of its famed cherry blossoms were blooming by the middle of last month, and have since been joined by daffodils and other flowers.
A meteorologist told The Canadian Press the unusual warm weather, rain and occasional sunshine contributed to early plant growth, adding that it has not been getting cold enough to freeze plants overnight.
Elsewhere in B.C., Sandspit and Bella Bella exceeded record daily highs this week.
"This winter in general has been very abnormal," he said.
Not everyone is thrilled. The heat has melted skating rinks, closed ski hills and raised concerns about the potential of a deep freeze damaging early blooming plants — as well as the impacts of climate change.
But some 3,400 kilometres east in Toronto, some residents would gladly swap their deep freeze for an early glimpse of spring.
The city was hammered by heavy snow and winter storms through much of January.
On Jan. 25, Toronto Pearson Airport recorded 46 centimetres of snow, its highest daily snowfall on record.
An hour west, Waterloo broke its winter snowfall record, recording its most winter snow accumulation ever by the end of January.
Hamilton, meanwhile, was under another cold weather alert Wednesday as it felt like –22 C with the wind chill.
And Toronto is not out of the woods yet — Environment Canada's Friday forecast is calling for strong winds and a low of -18 C on Friday.
Still, a little perspective is in order. For anyone complaining, that's nothing compared to what some parts of Canada have felt this winter.
On Dec. 23, Braeburn, Yukon, recorded the country's lowest temperature in 50 years, hitting a bone-chilling -55.7 C.
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