With winter鈥檚 icy grip taking hold of much of the country this week, many Canadians are asking if we鈥檒l be in for a doozy this season. But David Phillips, a senior climatologist with Environment Canada, believes that we won鈥檛 be experiencing anything too abnormal.

鈥淲e still are waiting a couple weeks before we issue our winter forecast, but the early look鈥� [suggests] we鈥檙e going to be colder than last year,鈥� Phillips told 麻豆传媒 Channel on Friday. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it necessarily will be colder than normal, but it鈥檚鈥� certainly going to feel more like winter and we鈥檒l have more consistency.鈥�

This week, a blast of Arctic air saw numbing temperatures set 28 records in British Columbia and 14 in the Prairies. On Thursday, Regina experienced a bitter minus 28 degrees Celsius -- the coldest Nov. 9 in the city since records began to be collected in 1884. In Ottawa, temperatures even plummeted a staggering 19 degrees, from a comfortable seven degrees Celsius to a chilly minus 13 by the day鈥檚 end.

鈥淲e just came through one of the warmest September, Octobers on record鈥� so it鈥檚 almost like a slap in the face,鈥� Phillips said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e already seen this kind of weather that you get in the dead of winter -- January, February -- and here it鈥檚 occurring in the first half of [November].鈥�

Last year, much of the country experienced an unusually mild winter -- something that won鈥檛 be repeated this season, despite our 鈥渆arly start to winter-like weather,鈥� Phillips said.

鈥淧eople are thinking, 鈥楿h-oh, is this the pattern, the personality of the coming winter?鈥欌�� Phillips said.

鈥淣o, this is just a little bit of a teaser, a little heads up to say, 鈥楬ey get your snow tires on and think about winter.鈥欌��

Those who love winter won鈥檛 be disappointed, Phillips added. And those who鈥檇 rather hibernate and wait for spring won鈥檛 suffer too much either.

鈥淭here will be something for everybody,鈥� Phillips said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 going to be a brutal one, like with a lot of polar vortices and that鈥� I think we鈥檒l be able to handle anything that Mother Nature throws our way.鈥�