Weather in Canada: Winter the second warmest ever [Video]

The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Winter comes to a close on Tuesday night – early Wednesday on Canada’s East Coast – with the arrival of the spring equinox. But climatologist David Phillips says it’s almost as if this winter in Canada never happened.

“I called it the lost season,” said Phillips, a senior climatologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

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Canada shattered temperature records this winter, and it wasn’t close, Phillips said, referring to national data going back to 1948.

While winter’s end is typically marked by the equinox, climatologists look at what’s known as meteorological winter, the three-month …