GTA Shivers In Unusual June Cold
Posted June 17, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
With the summers in the GTA already so short, there’s nothing quite so depressing as miserable and cold weather in the middle of June. But that’s what residents of southern Ontario were faced with on Tuesday, as the endless up and down cycle of this late spring continues.
Many people awoke to the horrifying reality of having to turn on their furnaces in the morning, despite the fact it’s June 17th. Others were reminded of conditions past – and future – when they grabbed a jacket on their way out the door.
Things didn’t get much better when they got outside. A breeze from the northwest made it feel even colder all day, and a drenching afternoon rain in many areas only made it worse. Some people who refused to acknowledge the brief change of season were literally caught in the cold.
“Obviously I didn’t check the weather when I went out this morning,” shivers Lynne Penberthy, who’s wearing nothing but a sleeveless top. “I just about froze to death!”
And if you picked this seven-day stretch for your vacation, you may just want to head back to work. The rest of the week promises to be overcast and cooler than usual, until a warm-up closer to the weekend. We made it to just 18C on Tuesday – and as the cold front moves in for a visit, it may only reach 17C on Wednesday.
We won’t be back to the norm until Saturday – the first full day of summer – when the mercury should hit 26C.
Still, not everyone is upset by the seemingly non-stop soggy conditions. “The garden’s quite happy,” laughs Ann McGuire. “The weeds are really happy.”
“It started off very cold, and so we didn’t get a good start, but now as you can see things are coming along,” notes David Dunn, as he displays his green thumb handiwork.
And all that rain hasn’t been your imagination. The GTA has already received 77 millimetres of precipitation so far. That’s already well above the average of 74 for the entire month – and it’s still only half over.
But for everyone who’s pleased, there are just as many peeved. Outdoor patios at pubs, normally overflowing at this time of the year, have been all but empty at night. No one’s heading into the city pools that just opened.
And ice cream parlours are being frozen out with the frigid weather. “Maybe one per cent came in all morning,” grimaces Levon Karamanien, who runs one of the gelato shops. “For sure summer’s coming soon. Just not sure when but she’s coming.”
Actually people have short memories when it comes to weather or he’d know it’s already been here. It was just ten days ago that the city was under an extreme heat alert with humidex values in the 40s.
And if variety is the spice of life, this has certainly been a spicy few weeks – we’ve had heat, humidity, brilliant sunshine, drenching rain, unseasonable cold, forked lightning and of course golf ball-sized hail. About the only thing missing has been snow – and no one’s quite ready to see that come back yet.
Check the seven-day forecast here
