First Unofficial Long Weekend Of Summer Gets Off To A Rainy Start
Posted May 16, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
There are a few things that aren’t quite true about the Victoria Day long weekend.
For starters, it’s not actually on Queen Victoria’s birthday, May 24. This year, we will celebrate it on the 18.
For another, though everyone breaks out the barbecues for the first unofficial long weekend of the summer, that sweet season isn’t upon us just yet. It arrives June 21.
The sunshine sure felt like it was a long way off on Saturday, when the long weekend got off to a rainy start. It’s not how most of us pictured a cool and frosty one, but it’s what we got – and the gloomy weather is going to stick around.
A high pressure system from the north will bring Arctic air over the Great Lakes on Sunday and into Monday, and some places will be lucky to see double digits.
In Toronto, that means a high of 11C and a low of 3C on Sunday. On Monday, the mercury will climb a little bit higher to 15C – but it will also plummet farther, stopping around 2C.
If you’re heading for cottage country, it’s going to be chilly, with highs of just 7C on Sunday and 13C on Monday. The overnights will feel downright wintry, with temperatures hovering near 0C.
Still, there’s time to make the most of it: Ontario Place opened for the season on Saturday and there are a ton of spots to watch the fireworks – even if it’s a little bit early.
Check the current conditions in your area
Watch the latest weather webcast
What’s open and closed on Victoria Day?/Fireworks displays
The 20 things you never knew about Queen Victoria and Victoria Day
A Decade Of Victoria Days
It’s not that unusual for the Victoria Day holiday to be a letdown. According to figures from Environment Canada, we rarely get a near-perfect long weekend in May without at least one of the three days having colder than normal temperatures or significant precipitation.
Last year, it rained on both the Saturday and the Sunday.
The 2004 version offered up fog, rain and thunderstorms.
And the high on Victoria Day 2000 was just 8C.
Things were even worse in 2002, when there were flurries on the long weekend. Residents in cottage country could see that happen again this year.
The best holiday weekend in the last ten years was in 2001. Highs reached 20C or better all three days and the last two were sunny.
Victoria Day By The Numbers
2008
May 17
High: 18.3C
Low: 8.7C
Condition: Mostly cloudy and rain
May 18
High: 11.3C
Low: 5.4C
Condition: Rain
May 19
High: 10.0.
Low: 3.8C
Condition: Mostly cloudy
2007
May 19
High: 20.8C
Low: 8.2C
Condition: Sunny
May 20
High: 21.1C
Low: 7.6C
Condition: Mostly cloudy
May 21
High 17.1C
Low: 4.4C
Condition: Sunny
2006
May 20
High: 14.8C
Low: 8.3C
Condition: Mostly cloudy
May 21
High: 13.3C
Low: 4.8C
Condition: Rain
May 22
High: 9.8C
Low: 3.7C
Condition: Mostly cloudy
2005
May 21
High: 22.2C
Low: 9.6C
Condition: Mostly cloudy
May 22
High: 13.3C
Low: 10.3C
Condition: Mostly cloudy
May 23
High: 14.2C
Low: 9.6C
Condition: Mostly cloudy
2004
May 22
High: 14.2C
Low: 10.4C
Condition: Rain and thunderstorms
May 23
High: 13.5C
Low: 11.0
Condition: Fog, heavy rain, thunderstorms
May 24
High: 20.5C
Low: 11.6C
Condition: Mostly cloudy
2003
May 23
High: 16.3C
Low: 8.6C
Condition: Mostly cloudy with rain at night
May 24
High: 16.3C
Low: 9.5C
Condition: Mostly cloudy
May 25
High: 15.9C
Low: 8.9C
Condition: Mostly cloudy
2002
May 18
High: 7.7C
Low: 3.6C
Condition: Mostly cloudy, snow flurries
May 19
High: 7.5C
Low: 0.1C
Condition: Mostly cloudy
May 20
High: 7.8C
Low: 0.0C
Condition: Mostly cloudy
2001
May 18
High: 24.4C
Low: 11.3C
Condition: Fog, haze, mostly cloudy
May 19
High: 22.2C
Low: 11.4C
Condition: Mainly clear
May 20
High: 22.1C
Low: 11.4C
Condition: Sunny
2000
May 20
High: 11.0
Low: 6.8C
Condition: Cloudy
May 21
High: 15.8C
Low: 7.3
Condition: Mostly cloudy
May 22
High: 8.1C
Low: 17.0C
Condition: Mostly cloudy
1999
May 21
High: 22.0C
Low: 10.7C
Condition: Mostly cloudy
May 22
High: 22.4C
Low: 13.7C
Condition: Cloudy
May 23
High: 17.9C
Low: 11.8C
Condition: Cloudy
Source: Environment Canada
