Today marks the first day of fall and although we likely have several weeks to go before we have to pull out the snow shovels, some Ontarians are fearing the worst for the fast-approaching winter.
But after suffering through a cold season filled with record-breaking temperatures, heavy snowfall and an ice storm that wreaked havoc across Toronto, things are looking up this year, according to Dave Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada.
“We say this winter is going to be … not as brutal and brittle as last year. We think it will be shorter and there will be more kind of melting days,” Phillips told CP24.
“It may come out to be normal but it will feel tropical compared to what we had last year.”
The first frost last year came in downtown Toronto just a few days before Halloween but the first measurable snowfall was not until Nov. 23.
The timing of the first snowfall, Phillips said, doesn’t really give a true sense of what the winter is going to be like.
But before the snow starts to fly, Phillips said we do have a “legitimate” fall on the horizon.
“October into early November, we think it will be on the warm side. Not July warm but compared to other Octobers and Novembers,” Phillips said.
“People will love this kind of fall.”
Temperatures five to six degrees above seasonal are expected in the coming months, Phillips said.
“I think it is going to be nature’s attempt to make up for what we have called a bummer of a summer,” he said.
Although many gripes could be heard by people who felt cheated by a cooler than normal summer, Phillips said it is just “an age thing.”
“It wasn’t great for drinking beer and outdoor patios,” he said.
“But boy, it was actually very close to normal.”
It looks as though Phillips is right and fall is indeed off to a warm start. Environment Canada is calling for sunny skies and temperatures in the low to mid 20s all week.
