It was drizzled and misty, with low clouds that darkened the upper part of the high buildings on Thursday night in Toronto while people headed home from work at Adelaide Street West. People walked down the sidewalks, umbrella in their hands, often ran into other umbrellas. It was only 10 C, and people were dressed in a variety of spring jackets or heavier coats.
This is not the type of climate that most Torontonians probably expect for May 22. The average temperature for this time of year is 21 C.
The same day last year, there were almost 30 C.
It was the third consecutive day with cloudy conditions, rain and cold weather. And there seems to be no good climate in sight.
And not only affects those in the capital of Ontario.
“The South Central of Ontario, the East of Ontario, Quebec and in the Maritime, wonder when summer will come,” said David Phillips, senior climatologist of the Environment and Climate Change of Canada (ECCC).
“I mean, my God, this week has been warmer in the northwest territories than in Toronto.”
So what is happening?
Where is the good spring climate we expect at this time of year?
“It is what we call a low cold; it is a low pressure area that turns,” Phillips said. “It is south of the great lakes, around the Erie lake to the south, and is dominating the type of cloud, fresh and rainy weather … so it is driving cold air from the north, and the decline is taking it and turning in the south.”
That low pressure is difficult to shake.
But it is not that the region has not experienced a pleasant climate this month.
“He bothered us for that great trail of the previous week. I mean, last Friday, he reached almost 30 degrees in Toronto,” Phillips said. “We think, oh my God, the long weekend is coming. Let’s go, pack the car and go out. And then it became miserable.”
The same climate plagued Montreal, which passed by about 30 C on May 16 to the clouds and the rain on May 19. And Halifax and Fredericton experience similar changes.
“We feel deceived and changed and we ask ourselves if, in fact, this is the pattern for summer,” Phillips said.
Perhaps one of the reasons for feeling changed is because spring temperatures in Canada have increased by 1.9 C in the last 77 years.
“We know that the springs are more similar to summer, and the cataracts are more similar to summer. The summer season has grown. It is not only intense in the summer, but it seems to be longer,” Phillips said. “And that is clearly the consequences of climate change.”
While Canadians may wonder what summer has for them, ECCC is asking for a warmer summer than the average throughout the country.
Cascade effects
On Friday, I was still cloudy and dried in Toronto.
But that did not prevent Marcella Downy from visiting the Earth’s garden center in Etobicoke.
“We have to go with the garden, and we are going to wait to plant that little break,” he said. “But we are trying to collect some things and prepare.”
Paul Zammit, professor at the Niágara College Environment Division, said there are cascade effects on this climate when it comes to the commercial side.
“The general sense that I get from retailers is that people are being a bit cautious. We are not sure if that is just the economy. This climate is certainly not helping it,” he said. “So [people] Do not leave and buy. The shelves are very full, and the retailers are not rearranging, so wholesalers are not moving their things. So it is, you know, this drip effect. “
That is not news for CJ Torriano, owner of Down 2 Earth, who said that, although business has been slow, he is doing everything possible to be patient.
“We have been doing everything possible here to protect our entire product and be prepared for when the sun rises,” he said. “I mean, we cannot fight with Mother Nature. So we do the best we can so that our things look good. And then, hopefully, in the next few days we have a pleasant climate and return to the rhythm.”
As for Phillips, he says that he believes that what we are seeing is just an error and that the warmest climate will soon be over us.
“I think my brave prognosis is that, you know, probably in two weeks from now on, the Torontonians and Montrealers will complain about heat and humidity,” Phillips said. “We always like to complain about the weather.”
