Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 05/01) - Yellowknife weather this year has been anything but normal.

After a dismal, rainy summer, last month hit the record books as the warmest September in 60 years of records.

Jerry Vandenbilche inspects the condition of his prized godetia flowers. Last month's warmer-than-normal temperatures have given his backyard garden an extended reprieve from winter's chill. - Mike W. Bryant/NNSL photo

A new record would have been struck this Sunday if Wednesday night's cold snap hadn't heralded the return of frost on Yellowknife's lawns and car windshields.

According to Environment Canada, the longest frost-free period in Yellowknife's history occurred only a few years ago in 1998. It lasted for 154 straight days.

While we were out of the running for the longest period without frost, we could have easily made it for the latest time-of-year record. The weekend forecast is calling for highs above 10 C.

"Well, you didn't make it, but it was close," says Environment Canada meteorologist Yvonne Bilan-Wallace in Edmonton. "You're a solid seventh now (out of 60 years of environmental data)."

What makes the statement "so close, yet so far away" all the more relevant is the magnificent weather forecast called for the weekend.

A bad storm centred on the Resolute Bay area is drawing warm air from the south, which should give Yellowknife an unseasonable high of 11 C for Saturday.

"Somebody else's bad weather is your good news," Bilan-Wallace laughs. "As long as the jet stream stays north, you should stay warm."

The bounty of good weather hasn't gone unnoticed by local residents. Jerry Vandenbilche says after a lousy summer, his garden is finally showing some promise.

"Everything kind of turned out well," says Vandenbilche.

"We ended up with three boxes of tomatoes, a lot of cucumbers, and one cantaloupe. The flowers at home are still looking good -- some of them."

Air Tindi Co-owner Teri Arychuk reports that, while the extended fall won't affect when floatplanes come out of the water, last month's weather did help.

"It definitely made the weather nice for flying," says Arychuk.

Bilan-Wallace says long-term forecasts look good all winter, unfortunately there is a catch.

"The good news is the winter appears above normal," says Bilan-Wallace. "The bad news is that historical seasonal records are not very accurate ... less than 45 per cent."