Photo: The Canadian Press

Genie, a thirteen year old American Black bear looks up from a nap at the Zoo Eco Museum west of Montreal, Sunday, March 3, 2023. She came out of hibernation on March 1. 

Environment Canada says the 2023-2024 winter season in Montreal was the second-warmest since record-keeping began in 1871.

Meteorologist Gregory Yang says the mean temperatures for December, January and February were each approximately four degrees warmer than usual.

He said the city experienced a record-breaking high of 14.9 degrees on Feb. 27, and the overall winter temperature was surpassed only by the 2001-2002 season.

The warm weather even prompted the resident black bear at a zoo west of Montreal to emerge from hibernation a little earlier than usual.

Ecomuseum spokeswoman Sarah Prince-Robin said Genie the bear made her first official outing of the year on Friday, just in time for the start of many students' spring break.

Prince-Robin says there are a number of factors that impact how early a bear wakes up, but temperature and barometric pressure are two of the ways they can tell spring is around the corner.