Residents across the region take advantage of warm winter temperatures

Friday was a record-breaking day for temperatures across the region.

"Well, this is the winter we have been having, honest to God," says Dave Phillips with Environment Canada.

Weather experts were expecting a mild day, and it turned out to be the kind of day we hadn't seen on February 9th in a while.

"The record goes back to 1872. I mean, come on, we've smashed that record. We destroyed it," says Phillips.

People were outdoors in significant numbers, taking advantage of springtime-like weather in the dead of winter.

"It's nice to get out and enjoy the weather and take this guy for a walk, and it's not freezing," says Barrie resident Dean Steven.

It was a day when people could pull out their bicycles and go for a ride with no freezing temperatures and no real snow on the ground to worry about.

"It's unusual, but it's nice," says Barrie resident Darryl Bowman.

Ski hills were also a hot spot for people looking to hit the slopes.

"It's real fun. It's a good day here in the park to learn some new tricks, so yeah, having fun with it," says Nathan Dagelinckx.

However, Phillips says winter isn't quite over yet.

He says from February 9th on, our region usually still gets about 95 centimetres of snow, representing about one-third of the region's annual snowfall.

He recommends not to put your winter jackets away just yet.