Toronto shatters 86-year-old temperature record Friday thanks to springlike warmup
Posted February 9, 2024 6:45 am.
Last Updated February 9, 2024 8:17 pm.
Despite nearing the middle of February it felt more like the middle of spring in the GTA as Toronto broke an 86-year-old temperature record.
A high of 15.7 C was reached at Pearson International Airport around 5:10 p.m., breaking the Feb. 9 record of 10.6 C set in 1938.
Historically, the average high for Feb. 9 in Toronto is -1.8 C.
Daily temperature records have fallen across Canada this winter, reflecting what forecasters had warned would be a warmer winter due to a strong El Nino climate pattern paired with the effects of human-caused climate change.
At the airport in London, Ont., the temperature hit 12 C by noon on Friday, surpassing a record set last year, according to Environment Weather data going back to 1941 while Ottawa hit 7.7 C at 1 p.m., slightly above a daily record set in 1990.
The springlike warmth will stick around into Saturday with an overnight low hovering around 9 C and the daytime high expected to be around the same. There could be some showers on Saturday morning.
Sunday will see a slight cool down with a high of 4 C. The average daytime high in February is around the freezing mark at 0 C, with an average low of -7 C.
Some snow was possible early next week, but CityNews 680 meteorologist Jill Taylor says it looks like the system will move by the city.
“Looks like the snow will miss us to the south on Monday,” she says. “But still one to watch over the weekend.”
The lack of snowfall has been noticeable in Toronto so far this winter. Last year, 123 centimetres of snow fell throughout January, while only 27 centimetres accumulated this year. In 2022, over 150 centimetres of snow fell in Toronto that same month.
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Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report
