Not another cold winter

 

 

By Shaun Garrity

Almost all the temperatures of the Great Lakes are below average, so what does that mean for Windsor and the economy?

Last year, over 92 per cent of the lakes were significantly covered with ice. When the ice takes longer to melt that can affect temperatures said Colette Kennedy, Meteorologist at CBC Toronto.

Right now most bodies of water in the area including the Great Lakes are 6 degrees colder than last year, Kennedy said not only is colder this year, but they are running three degrees below average.

“If we are already trending cool this year and we know we had a cold winter last year, it can mean that we are in for another cold winter,” said Kennedy.

Kennedy said in recent years this has been one of the coldest winters the region has seen and another long winter like last could put a damper in on farmer’s harvests.

“In the spring, certain crops that might get going have an inability to move forward in growth or they start too and there is another hard freeze,” said Kennedy.

Costs of products being delivered through ship freighters may go up due to longevity of the cold season.

“If they are more frozen over, it gets more expensive because they need more ice breakers and ice equipment,” said Kennedy.