winter 2018 toronto

How bad will winter be in Toronto this year?

With the ridiculous amount of November snow we saw this week, it's fair to wonder if the rest of winter will be as intense for Toronto. 

Though winter forecasts are just that—forecasts—the general consensus is that this year's snowy season is going to be a pretty standard one.

What that means is the average snowy periods from December to March, with a few cold snaps here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary.

That being said, it's still going to be frosty one (we are the earth's fifth coldest country after all). 

winter 2018 toronto

A chart from this year's Old Farmer's Almanac report shows temperatures hovering at average levels for the majority of winter, with a slight increase in precipitation. Photo via Old Farmer's Almanac.  

If we're going by the Old Farmer's Almanac long range weather forecast released a couple months ago, the coldest periods will run from mid-December to early February. 

There'll be more rain and snowfall than average, with precipitation lasting all the way until mid-March. 

But it's nothing compared to the storms that Accuweather has reported will hit Atlantic Canada this winter, or the Arctic air that could potentially move east toward Quebec.

Apparently Toronto and the rest of the Great Lakes will be spared much of that frigid air, only seeing some extreme bouts of cold in the second half of winter as per usual. 

Both AG Canada and Accuweather have also reported on the effects of an emerging El Nino, which is usually associated with warmer and wetter weather winters and springs in this part of Canada.

Still, you won’t see anything out of the ordinary, other than the fact April and May are expected to be cooler than normal, with more rain than average. 

As long as it’s not the face-freezing, frigid winter storms of years past, we should be able to survive this one. 

Lead photo by

Michael Mitchener


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