Welcome to Ontario’s warmest days of the year. Will they live up to history?
This is the climatological peak of summer across southern Ontario. But will the weather act like it?
Welcome to the most wonderful time of the year if you’re a warm-weather lover in southern Ontario. The last two weeks of July feature the region’s warmest average temperatures of the entire year.
But will the toastiest stretch of the year live up to its full potential this time around?
Here’s a look at average temperatures across southern Ontario for this climatological peak of summertime splendour, and what you can actually expect through the end of the month.
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Warmest stretch of the year for southern Ontario
Average temperatures throughout the year resemble a roller-coaster with a peak in the middle of the summer and a frigid low in the dead of winter.
We’re firmly at the peak of the hill right now across southern Ontario—the apex of temperatures before we begin the steady descent toward chillier weather.
Toronto’s warmest five days of the year begin on Saturday, July 20, and last for the next five days, with the city’s average temperature clocking in at a yearly high of 26.8°C. After that, average readings begin their reliable decline heading toward the waning days of summer.
Folks around the nation’s capital get to sit at the top of the hill for a bit longer. Ottawa’s warmest average temperature of the year sticks around for about a week and a half, between July 16 and July 27.
Southwestern Ontario gets to enjoy the warmest weather the longest. Windsor’s highest average high of the year, a toasty 28.1°C, sticks around for almost the entire final two weeks of July.
What we can expect in the days and weeks ahead
Average temperatures are history, after all, and it’s rare for a day—or even a spell of days—to register bang-on seasonal for that time of year.
So even though we’re in the heart of summer’s warmest days, what can you really expect to see across southern Ontario through the closing days of July?
Consistent conditions and a relative lack of extreme heat will define the latter half of July throughout the region. Folks in Toronto can expect temperatures within a degree or two of seasonal for the next week or two, with a slight warm-up arriving by next weekend.
Even though temperatures will stay comfortably seasonable, sticky humidity will make things feel much warmer most days as afternoon humidex values easily climb into the 30s.
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One benefit to reaching the warmest point of the year is that the lakes are finally warming up as well. Water temperatures in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are both hovering in the mid-20s this weekend, with cooler waters in Lake Superior coming in around the 20-degree mark.
The consistent warmth of July and August make for the perfect conditions to get some swimming time in if you can get outdoors on a nicer day.
Header image submitted by Solomon Hoasjoe.
