toronto weather

Messy week in store for Toronto as temperatures jump by 27 degrees

After a weekend of frigid Toronto weather with wind chill values near - 30 C, the work week is off to a (comparatively) balmy start for Canada's largest city... though not an entirely lovely one.

The dreaded polar vortex that brought temperatures down to just - 21.4 C on Saturday night has moved along, for now — or rather, it has been ushered out of the region for now by mild, southerly winds.

The sky tends to get a bit angry when warmer and cooler systems collide, as evidenced by the thunderstorms we often see around dramatic temp shifts, and the second week of February is expected to follow suit.

Multiple low-pressure systems will impact Toronto in the days ahead, according to The Weather Network, bringing the mercury up as water comes down.

Rain or, in higher terrain areas, freezing rain, is expected to dominate much of Tuesday as the first system slides into Southern Ontario, sending temperatures all the way up to 6 C in Toronto — a swing of nearly 30 C in just a few days.

"With a big temperature swing, often comes some unsettled skies, and this surge of milder air will bring widespread precipitation this week," warned the Weather Network in an update on Monday morning.

"The first low-pressure system will slide across the province on Tuesday and bring primarily rainy conditions to the south... The forecast becomes more interesting by Thursday, as a Texas low draws up a warmer, moist flow from the U.S. deep south."

Thursday could bring a threat of freezing rain once again in Southern Ontario, though Friday looks decent with partly cloudy skies and a high of 5 C.

"Hamilton and Niagara have the best opportunity to experience warm, double-digit February temperatures, while Toronto could very well be stuck in a chilly flow off the lake," writes the Weather Network.

If meteorologists are right, we'll be seeing snow again on Saturday — but with a high of - 2 C, it won't feel nearly as unbearable outdoors as it did this weekend past.

Lead photo by

Phil Marion


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