MEDICINE HAT, AB — When thinking of January, icicles, snow and bitter temperatures come to mind.
However, Medicine Hat hasn’t been close to that for most of the season.
As a result, residents are taking advantage of the positive temperatures.
“People’s moods seem to be a little bit brighter and happier with the warmer temperatures,” says Marty Drut, park interpreter at the Police Point Park Nature Centre.
In December, the Weather Network said Medicine Hat would have above normal temperatures, and below normal snowfall.
That rang true, and now Hatters are taking advantage the conditions.
“We’ve definitely seen a lot of people on our trails, walking, jogging, skateboard park,” says Scott Richter, superintendent of city of Medicine Hat parks operations. “So those are kind of treats this year.”
“It does seem on the weekends that we do have more people taking advantage of the warmer weather,” says Drut.
It’s a sharp contrast from last winter, where Medicine Hat had 34 snowfalls.
On January 10 2018, the high was -16 with light snow.
As of January 10 2019, there’s only been five snowfalls, an advantage for those who enjoy outdoor sports.
Jen Kirby, vice president of the Medicine Hat Motorcycle Society says she’s seeing more people than usual on the track.
“We’ll have some really great weather coming up this weekend,” says Kirby. “So I think a lot of people are excited to take their bikes out.”
This time last year the motocross track was under about a foot of snow.
“At least a foot of snow on the track,” says Kirby. “It was like a lake in some parts and just tons of snow on the rest of it, and this year we don’t even have a puddle.”
If you actually enjoy winter activities like skating, skiing and snowshoeing, you could still be in luck.
The Weather Network says the 2019 winter will be erratic, so residents should be prepared for anything.
