TORONTO - Canadians who endured two tough winters and the "summer that wasn't" may be heartened to hear that the mild January weather seen in much of the country may set the trend for the rest of this winter.

Environment Canada's senior climatologist David Phillips says we've reached the dead of winter, yet many Canadians may be asking, what winter?

Despite the storm hitting parts of Manitoba and Saskatchewan this weekend, many parts of Canada including the Prairies have experienced an extended mild spell this month.

"Everybody's had a January thaw, pretty well everybody certainly in the southern part of the country, Vancouver clearly, Edmonton, across the Prairies, Ontario and the Maritimes," said Phillips.

It hasn't been a record thaw with double-digit temperatures, but it has been lengthy with comfortable, unseasonably mild temperatures, he said.

"Sometimes you can get a January thaw on the Prairies lasting minutes," Phillips joked. "This one has lasted several days. It's almost been seven to 10 days where they've had melting temperatures," he said.

It's because of El Nino, which strengthened and stayed the course. Environment Canada's models forecast the rest of this winter will be milder than normal across all of the west and north, and there will be near normal seasonal temperatures across Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, Phillips said.

"It doesn't mean every day or week will be balmy and snow free. What we'll probably see is a little bit of a taste of all kinds of winter weather. We'll see some cold, we'll see some warmth, we'll see some snow, we'll see some dry periods. So it will be a mixed bag,"said Phillips.

For example, Toronto temperatures were expected to reach nine on Sunday, 11 degrees warmer than usual while Ottawa was expected to go up to six on Monday, 12 degrees warmer than normal, he said.

For January, Toronto has been less than one degree warmer than normal. The real story is the city's lack of snow -- just 24 cm for the entire winter compared to 110 cm by this time last year, he said.

In terms of precipitation, it will be normal, to drier than normal, across the country, he forecasts.

The mild weather has its benefits. People save money on home heating bills, commuters get around easier and there's less black ice on the roads. Cities save money on sanding and salting and fewer water pipes burst, he said.

"Productivity must be high because people aren't late for work. It's sometimes good for the economy when you get something like that," Phillips said.

Ottawa and Montreal also had less snow this month. Vancouver, the site of next month's Olympics, has had a mere 1.6 cm of snow for the entire winter, compared to 106 cm at this time last year and the normal 30 cm by this time of January, Phillips said.

"Maybe it's unfortunate the Olympics weren't last year," he said.

But he added it's too soon yet for an Olympic forecast.

Vancouver, Montreal, Moncton and Charlottetown have all been about four degrees warmer this month, Calgary, Winnipeg and Iqaluit 4.5 degrees warmer, Ottawa and St. John's, N.L., about three degrees warmer, while Saskatoon and Quebec City have been about 5.5 degrees warmer and Goose Bay has been eight degrees warmer.

But Phillips cautions we might not be completely out of the clear, noting "sometimes you can get all your misery at the last end of winter."