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Lethbridge basks in record November warm spell

Nov 7, 2016 | 10:55 AM

LETHBRIDGE – More weather records were poised to fall in southern Alberta, as a high-pressure system continued to blow in unseasonably warm air from the United States.

“You probably had November in October, and now November would be more like what you’d see in October,” Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips said. “This week we see the potential for a couple of days that could break records in the Lethbridge area.”

Lethbridge recorded a high temperature of 22.6 on Saturday, Nov. 5. That beat the old record of 22.2 set in 1908 and tied in 1975. Phillips said records could fall Tuesday and Wednesday, with forecast highs of 22 and 20. The normal high for this time of year is 6.

“You probably might have the warmest Remembrance Day in 82 years, when the temperature likely gets up to 20 degrees,” Phillips said, adding the warm air has been good news for farmers trying to catch up on their work after a cooler October with snow around Thanksgiving.

But Phillips cautions November is a “fickle” month, and it likely won’t end the way it began.

“Likely, maybe a week from now we’ll begin to see daytime highs that would be maybe single digits, 8, 9 degrees, still warmer than normal,” he said, but added by mid-November daytime highs could stay in the freezing range.

But in the end, he said it will make winter seem a couple of weeks shorter.