Spring may have officially sprung, but Environment Canada's senior climatologist says winter weather is a bully determined to stick around.

The Northern Hemisphere welcomed in the vernal equinox early Thursday morning, but David Phillips warned that Canadians won't see any sign of balmy weather for at least a month.

Weather models show that the next 30 days will be colder than normal across the country, he says.

"The cold air is the bully now and it's hovering over Canada," he said, adding that it's going to take some serious sunshine to dispel the chill.

"I think spring is going to take its sweet time," he said.

La Nina — a weather pattern resulting from cooler-than-normal waters in the Pacific Ocean and blamed for bringing Canada this bone-chilling winter — has lingered and even strengthened, said Phillips.

Arctic air continues to hold Canada in its grip after a "tough, cruel, cold, snowy winter," the weather expert said.

As for Easter weekend, Phillips says bundle up — you're more likely to see balaclavas than bonnets at holiday parades.

It's going to be "one of the coldest Easters ever," he said, though partly to blame is that the spring celebration comes earlier this year than it's been since 1913.

And Phillips also reminded Canadians that for many parts of the country, there's a lot more snow in the forecast.

In southern Ontario, about 10 per cent of snow falls after the first day of spring, he said, and in the Prairies the biggest snowfalls happen typically in April and May.

Already several cities have set winter snowfall records — including Quebec City, Bathurst, N.B., and Waterloo, Ont. Several others are on the verge of eclipsing decades-old records in the coming weeks.

The vernal equinox took place at 1:48 ET and marks the point when the sun passes directly over the equator. On this day there are equal hours of day and night.