From the balmy Arctic, to the open water of the St. Lawrence and
snowless western fields, this winter has been the warmest and driest in
Canadian record books.

Environment Canada scientists report that winter 2009/10 was 4 C above
normal, making it the warmest since nationwide records were first kept
in 1948. It was also the driest winter on the 63-year record, with
precipitation 22 per cent below normal nationally, and down 60 per cent
in parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

"It's beyond shocking," David Phillips, a senior climatologist with
Environment Canada, said Tuesday. Records have been shattered from
"coast to coast to coast."

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