Spring will bring 'maple syrup weather' as temperatures turn in Toronto

“Maple syrup weather.”

That’s what Environment Canada Senior Climatologist Dave Phillips says that residents can expect as spring officially gets underway on Monday.

“It is often said that spring arrives reluctantly in Canada and this is going to test us,” Phillips told CP24. “This is going to be slow coming. Every day will get marginally warmer. But the cold still may come. In Toronto after the first day of spring we still get about 10 per cent of our annual snowfall so don’t put away your snow shovel. Patient is the operative word.”

Phillips said that the winter was much warmer than normal in Toronto, with the city only seeing 11 days in which the temperature dipped to – 10 C or below compared to the 38 it sees in a more typical year.

But he said that March has brought much colder conditions and there is a risk that weather will linger for the remainder of the month.

The forecast for this weekend, in fact, calls for temperatures to only reach a high of – 2 C on Saturday and 1 C on Sunday. But the temperature overnight into Saturday could feel closer to -11 with the wind chill.

Flurries are also possible for Saturday morning.

“Last March we had days already that were up to 19 C or 20 C. All we could get yesterday was 9 C. So what we will see over the coming days or weeks is kind of maple syrup weather. Melting during the day and freezing at night,” Phillips warned. “That is actually better for us. You don’t want to go from winter to summer because that creates all kinds of pollen and allergies and floods and muds. Let nature take its time.”

Spring will officially arrive at 5:24 p.m. on Monday.

Environment Canada is currently calling for sunny skies and a high of 5 C on Monday to mark the milestone.

Temperatures will drop to freezing overnight but then climb back up to 4 C on Tuesday.

The average daytime high at this time of year is about 4 C with an average low of -4.8 C.

“It is not going to go from slush to sweat,” Phillips said.