Iqaluit (Mar 06/06) - The weather was outright bizarre last week with temperatures soaring more than 30 degrees above normal in some parts of the territory.

In Pangnirtung, people woke up Monday, Feb. 27, to sunny skies and 6.8C.

In Iqaluit, temperatures reached 4.2C that same day.

According to Environment Canada, the daily average temperature for February in Iqaluit is -28C.

No comparison was available for Pangnirtung.

"It's really nice weather. I've seen a lot of people in their spring jackets," observed Annie Keenainak in Pangnirtung.

Raised in Pang, she's never witnessed such balmy temperatures this time of the year.

"It's unusual for the end of February. We've had warm temperatures, but not this warm."

But it's not all roses, says Keenainak.

"There is more wind and the floe edge is a lot closer, which is affecting the halibut fishing. It has quite a bit of impact for fisherman and people that go out on the land."

As forecaster for Environment Canada Yvonne Bilan-Wallace put it, "The record books for February will have to be rewritten."

The temperatures broke a 60-year monthly record for the capital.

With the warmth came a series of four high impact wind storms hitting both communities hard through the week.

Late Sunday afternoon, Feb. 26, Pangnirtung was pummeled by easterly winds of 85 kilometres an hour gusting to 125. Not surprisingly, sides of buildings were bent from the wind's shear pressure.

Winds in Iqaluit peaked at 70 km/h with gusts to 90, making a walk to the store seem like walking outside an airplane.

Life in Hall Beach wasn't too shabby either last week, admitted Lorne Penney. "The weather's been super," he said of last Monday's 1C. "The snow has been melting off the roofs and houses."