Yellowknife residents experienced a rare January occurrence on Monday as freezing rain fell in the city with the temperature hovering around -1 C.
A freezing rain warning advised residents to be aware of potentially slippery highways, roads, walkways and parking lots.
A ridge of high pressure in the upper atmosphere brought warm and moist Pacific air into the southern NWT, while a low pressure system formed west of Great Slave Lake and carried precipitation along with it, said David Stanfel, meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
The freezing rain, issued around noon, was expected to stop later in the afternoon, but the mild spell is likely to continue for a few more days, Stanfel said.
He mentioned that the average temperature for late January in Yellowknife is usually around -20 C, with overnight lows of close to -30 C.
The record high of 2.8 C was set in 2015.
Stanfel noted that Yellowknife has experienced frozen rain monthly since November 2023.