Fall has officially arrived in Toronto and a senior climatologist with Environment Canada says that it is likely to be “milder than normal” and perhaps even “dryer than normal” as well.

The season officially got underway at 9:31 a.m. with its arrival coinciding with a stretch of above seasonal temperatures that will see the mercury hover around 23 C for the next few days before rising to 26 C. on Saturday.

The average daytime high at this time of year is about 19 C.

“We have issues with pandemics but not the weather,” Dave Phillips said in an interview with CP24. “Our models say it will be milder than normal and likely normal or dryer than normal. I think nature will be good to us.”

Phillips said that the city had a “special summer” with 35 days in which the temperature topped 30 C, which is about double the normal amount.

He said that the heat also created some of the warmest water temperatures in the Great Lakes in recent memories, meaning that those seeking to cool off at the city’s beaches “didn’t have to just tip toe into the water and could run full bore.”

So far this September Philips said that temperatures have cooled down but have been pretty much much in line with what you expect to see in the early fall, which he described as a “fickle” season overall.

“We could still have frost on the pumpkin and we could still have snow before Remembrance Day but it shouldn’t spoil the sort of fall I think we are going to have,” he said. “We have had really two weeks of dry weather so it is perfect and we are going to have a colour change season that is going to be magnificent. I think it will be the reason for which we live in this part of the world. The trees will look splendid in their technicolour coats and then there will also be good viewing weather as well.”