Toronto breaks 86-year-old temperature record
Toronto broke an 86-year-old weather record on Friday as temperatures climbed above 13 C during an unseasonably warm February.
Unofficial Environment Canada data showed the temperature at Toronto Pearson International Airport reached 11.4 C at 10 a.m., smashing the previous record of 10.6 C set in 1938.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
The temperature hit 13.4 C at 12 p.m. and peaked at 15.1 C by 4 p.m., according to the federal weather agency.
Speaking to CP24 Friday morning, Dave Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada, called the weather “quite unusual.”
“It's almost like full spring,” Phillips said. “I mean, these are temperatures that you'd normally see at the end of April, not days before Valentine's Day.”
Phillips said Toronto City weather records, which have been kept since 1841 and measure the temperature in the city instead of by the airport, show the warmest Feb. 9 ever recorded was 10 C. So, Friday's temperature effectively breaks a 183-year-old record as well.
A mix of sun and clouds will join Friday’s relative warmth with a risk of isolated showers in the afternoon.
Saturday will be mainly cloudy with a chance of morning and midday showers and a high of 10 C. Temperatures will pull back to 3 C on Sunday ahead of a chance of isolated flurries early next week.
Friday warmth could be just a 'teaser': Phillips
For those looking forward to an early spring, Friday’s forecast is more than welcome – although it likely won’t stick around, Phillips said.
“Our forecast is saying that we're going to see, over the next month, more seasonable temperatures,” Phillips explained. “So maybe a return to temperatures below freezing even during the daytime and more snow.”
On average, Toronto sees 40 centimetres of snow, or a third of the city’s total winter snowfall, after Feb. 9, Phillips said.
So far, Toronto’s winter has been relatively mild, with the city’s greatest snowfall this season measuring only 5.6 centimetres.
“My sense is this is kind of a little teaser. It's not the full [winter] effect, but it sure adds to the kind of the openness and the softness of the winter that we've had so far,” Phillips added.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.