I dont normaly read the paper, but since im house sitting, I manage to take a glance at the front page. I seen a pic of some people sitting in the sun. I thought it would be about the 30C temps we had yesterday, but no, it was about some people sitting in the sun at a camp ground for the long weekend with the following blurb at the end:

"The May long weekend is usually the time in which we put out our gardens. The annual frost free period is about two weeks longer then in the past. This is great for growing gardens, and the Thunder Bay area has gained a growing zone....." WOOT!

So it says read more inside. Here is the last bit of the article which caught my interest:

"A look back to later May 2011 reveals the warmest 366 days in the climate history of the region.

It features many ups and downs that unclude record warmth in march, but the period has been 3C warmer then average. Its merely a snapsnop for climatologists, but is like shifting the region three degrees latitude south. For Thunder bay, thats minniapolis, or Ottawa."

The airport is now "officialy" a zone 4, which would make the area close to the lake, a cool zone 5.