Montreal's storm of the century - a 1971 single-day snowfall of 43.5 centimetres - was eclipsed Thursday by a 45 centimetre snowfall.
Stop and think now: how many weather records have you heard were broken in the last year?
It's not surprising if you couldn't keep track of them all. According to Environment Canada, weather in this country broke a significant record - the record for the most record-breaking weather events in a year.
That is, of course, exactly what climate scientists said we could expect from global warming - a trend that is clearly occurring, despite what a decade's-worth of structured opposition has claimed.
But what's interesting now is how the climate conversation is changing. There was a time when it was simply scientists raising the issue of a warming Earth. Now, the dialogue has changed to those who are seeing climate change hitting their bottom lines.
The early adopter was the insurance industry - actuaries regularly deal with numbers that reach well back into the decimal places. Actuarial changes are often small but always significant, and the insurance industry saw quickly that weather-related claims were increasing along a measurable curve - an incremental change bound to appear in that box on your bill where you have to pay the premium.
Likewise, farmers have watched recent weather erode their bottom lines. Drought in the Midwest may well have driven up grain prices (and, in the process, food prices for all of us) but that drought is reaching out in many ways. The worst American drought since 1956 is on the verge of closing the Mississippi River to barge traffic - there simply isn't enough water left in the system to float billions of dollars of cargo.
But an interesting development in December came from Seafood.com, a subscription service that follows the workings of the North American seafood market and beyond. The service highlighted the fact that U.S. federal fisheries regulators don't seem to be taking obvious climate changes into account when looking at the health of fish species.
Fishermen in Maine are now arguing that significantly higher temperatures than normal are causing a host of effects on commercial species. Cod is moving north, shrimp catches are falling and lobsters, while plentiful, have soft shells at times that they have not in the past. Water temperatures in near-shore areas are 10 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than they have been in the past.
Biological oceanographer Jefferey Runge told the Bangor Daily News that cod, lobster and shrimp could all be displaced in the gulf if temperatures continue their rise.
"At some point, (the gulf) is going to be inhospitable to cod," Runge said. "We're getting close to that now."
Temperature shifts also mean a critical food species for herring and mackerel would move.
Eventually, the climate change rubber will meet the road for a host of industries, in a host of different ways.
What will be interesting is how long it takes governments to realize what others are already seeing.
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Not to worry a large mothership will land and provide us with fresh veggies and fruits...hmmm I ordered cucumber on my sub today but they were out....Brian help!! ;)