toronto weather

The rest of Canada is making fun of Toronto for thinking -12 C is cold

As Vancouver comes to halt during what it's deeming Snowmageddon, the Prairies face temperatures as low as - 50 C and the East Coast hunkers down under its fair share of snow, Toronto has been dealing with a pretty mild winter so far.

In light of this, Canadians across the country are making fun of the city for issuing an extreme cold weather alert today for a measly - 12 C.

The alert, courtesy of Toronto's Medical Officer of Health, is in anticipation of the coldest bout of weather the city has seen so far in 2020 thanks to some Arctic air and snowfall.

The statement usually comes when temperatures drop to - 15 C or colder, and/or windchill hits - 20 C or colder.

But the official Toronto forecasts from the Weather Network and Environment Canada don't indicate a dip below - 14 C in the next few days. Tonight will apparently be around - 12 C without windchill factored in.

Residents in other parts of Canada are finding the alert laughable as they deal with way more frigid temps that have led to school bus cancellations, cracked train tracks, closed ski hills and zoo penguins brought indoors for their own safety, among other things.

Some are even calling Torontonians "a little fragile" and "hysterical" on social media, telling us to take a trip to Alberta or Montreal if we want to experience some real cold.

Others are wondering how Toronto managed to completely swap winter weather with places on the West Coast that rarely see snow over the season.

The weather from coast-to-coast has been a bit chaotic this past week, which has been frustrating for many but has also admittedly provided everyone with a reason to laugh (while getting pelted in the face with freezing cold blasts of wind and snow).

Though the rest of the country seems to think we're a bunch of sensitive babies here in Toronto (for many reasons, I'm sure), we could probably just bond over the real-life hell that is winter in Canada rather than throw shade at one another.

Lead photo by

Carlos Bezz


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