It may be sunny in Victoria, but unseasonably cold temperatures will likely stretch well into March, according to Environment Canada.
"We started March just the same that we finished February: freakishly frigid, very cold," meteorologist Armel Castellan told CTV News on Tuesday.
Though the sun is shining and daytime highs feel relatively warmer than last month, temperatures are still about four to five degrees colder than normal for this time of year.
"We're not going to catch up to seasonal values until we get to the third, maybe even the fourth week of March," said Castellan.
The abnormal cold spell could include some wet flurries on B.C.'s South Coast overnight Wednesday.
It comes after two Victoria weather stations at the airport and Gonzales beach recorded their second-coldest February ever.
A record for most snowfall in February was also broken at the Victoria airport.
But if Vancouver Island residents can stick it out through March, it looks like they could be rewarded, according to Environment Canada's three-month seasonal forecast for spring.
"We could go from very much colder than normal and swinging right past normal, or seasonal, and go above normal into April and May," Castellan said, adding that the jump in temperature would feel "drastic" by comparison.
Another change is coming this weekend with the arrival of Daylight Saving Time Sunday, March 10, as clocks spring forward by an hour.
Though March 1 technically marked the beginning of meteorological spring, the more commonly known astronomical spring arrives during the equinox on Wednesday, March 20.
