What Is The Weather Today? (No Mercury Jockeying!)

[Denscity]

Today is the last day where our average high is below zero. (-0.1C)
Tomorrow's average is 0.0C
Day after that is the beginning of above zero highs till the end of the year again. (+0.1C)

[rousseau]

Yeah, I don't know where the "short shoulder seasons" comes from. Autumn in southern Ontario is long and very distinct from summer and winter. The Great Lakes give warmth in autumn and delay warmth in spring. Nobody would mistake November for January around here.

Though Chicago is to the west of Lake Michigan, so it really does look like you get a quantitative difference in the spring and summer. It annoys me when you see that Chicago has five months with average highs over 20, while Toronto only has four because of May.

Toronto, April and May: 11.5, 18.4
Chicago, April and May: 15.1, 21.2

That's painful. I try not to let it bother me, but sometimes I can't help it, and I get jealous of places below us where spring warm up is faster because they aren't in the lee of a Great Lake.

[goodgrowth]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Yeah, I don't know where the "short shoulder seasons" comes from. Autumn in southern Ontario is long and very distinct from summer and winter. The Great Lakes give warmth in autumn and delay warmth in spring. Nobody would mistake November for January around here.

Though Chicago is to the west of Lake Michigan, so it really does look like you get a quantitative difference in the spring and summer. It annoys me when you see that Chicago has five months with average highs over 20, while Toronto only has four because of May.

Toronto, April and May: 11.5, 18.4
Chicago, April and May: 15.1, 21.2

That's painful. I try not to let it bother me, but sometimes I can't help it, and I get jealous of places below us where spring warm up is faster because they aren't in the lee of a Great Lake.

I think Windsor is pretty close to those Chicago high's for April and May. It doesn't have the same lake moderating effect because it's leeward of Michigan.

[Chadillaccc]

Made it up to -3 today, up from a forecast of -5. A pretty nice, seasonal, extremely sunny day. Made it out for a good 8 km worth of walks so far with my pooch.

[Blitz]

The climate of Chicago and Windsor are almost identical:

January High:
Chicago = -0.3
Windsor = -0.3

April High:
Chicago = 15.1
Windsor = 14.1

July High:
Chicago = 29.0
Windsor = 28.1

October High:
Chicago = 17.1
Windsor = 15.8

Annual Precipitation:
Chicago = 993 mm
Windsor = 934 mm

Annual Snowfall:
Chicago = 94 cm
Windsor = 129 cm

Annual Hours of Sunshine:
Chicago = 2508
Windsor = 2436

Neither city experiences much lake effect in terms of temperature (Chicago is upwind of Lake Michigan and Windsor is upwind of Lake Erie). Lake St. Clair is too small of a lake to have a climatic impact. There are several days each year when lake effect snow showers that originated over Lake Michigan travel eastward all the way to Windsor though.

[Nicko999]

-3C with a wind chill of -8 and a mix of sun and clouds.

Low of -6C (wind chill of -10) this morning.

The warmspot was North Cowichan, BC at 8.4C.

[flar]

Thank goodness for the Great Lakes, they once again protected Southern Ontario and Michigan from extreme cold

[goodgrowth]

Originally Posted by Blitz

Annual Hours of Sunshine:
Chicago = 2508
Windsor = 2436

It makes sense to use Detroit's numbers against Chicago for relative purposes....but Windsor's Canadian sunshine number likely ~2100hrs

[north 42]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Today is the last day where our average high is below zero. (-0.1C)
Tomorrow's average is 0.0C
Day after that is the beginning of above zero highs till the end of the year again. (+0.1C)

I love hitting that milestone, we have about two more weeks till we get there.

[Coldrsx]

Edmonton
-18 feels like -27 with some fresh snow

My buddy just called to complain from Toronto
-11 feels like -17... damn

[north 42]

Originally Posted by Blitz

The climate of Chicago and Windsor are almost identical:

January High:
Chicago = -0.3
Windsor = -0.3

April High:
Chicago = 15.1
Windsor = 14.1

July High:
Chicago = 29.0
Windsor = 28.1

October High:
Chicago = 17.1
Windsor = 15.8

Annual Precipitation:
Chicago = 993 mm
Windsor = 934 mm

Annual Snowfall:
Chicago = 94 cm
Windsor = 129 cm

Annual Hours of Sunshine:
Chicago = 2508
Windsor = 2436

Neither city experiences much lake effect in terms of temperature (Chicago is upwind of Lake Michigan and Windsor is upwind of Lake Erie). Lake St. Clair is too small of a lake to have a climatic impact. There are several days each year when lake effect snow showers that originated over Lake Michigan travel eastward all the way to Windsor though.

Very close indeed, and even closer using the Windsor-Riverside weather station.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor,_Ontario#Climate

[Marty_Mcfly]

Cloudy, sunny breaks, and a cold -5 at 12:30pm. High of -2 expected today, though its looking like that won't happen.

With the snow and cold temperatures, I can honestly say that today is the first time this year that it has really felt like winter.

[MonctonRad]

-5C with a light snowshower, and filtered sunshine in Moncton at 12 noon. I just went out to the neighbourhood mailbox to pick up the mail, and it was a very pleasant walk.

[SignalHillHiker]

It’s amazing how one storm can change everything from feeling like late fall to being the dead of winter.

[Innsertnamehere]

Got down to -6 last night.

The average low this time of year is about -9.. I think we’ve only hit that once this year, in December. And that’s the *average*!

[Nicko999]

Originally Posted by Blitz

The climate of Chicago and Windsor are almost identical:

January High:
Chicago = -0.3
Windsor = -0.3

April High:
Chicago = 15.1
Windsor = 14.1

July High:
Chicago = 29.0
Windsor = 28.1

October High:
Chicago = 17.1
Windsor = 15.8

Annual Precipitation:
Chicago = 993 mm
Windsor = 934 mm

Annual Snowfall:
Chicago = 94 cm
Windsor = 129 cm

Annual Hours of Sunshine:
Chicago = 2508
Windsor = 2436

Neither city experiences much lake effect in terms of temperature (Chicago is upwind of Lake Michigan and Windsor is upwind of Lake Erie). Lake St. Clair is too small of a lake to have a climatic impact. There are several days each year when lake effect snow showers that originated over Lake Michigan travel eastward all the way to Windsor though.

A full degree difference is more significant than you think. It's like the difference between Toronto and Windsor in winter.

Also if we take lows the difference is even bigger:

January Low:
Chicago = -7.7
Windsor = -7.3

April Low:
Chicago = 5.4
Windsor = 3.7

July High:
Chicago = 19.7
Windsor = 17.9

October High:
Chicago = 7.6
Windsor = 6.7

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Nicko999

A full degree difference is more significant than you think. It's like the difference between Toronto and Windsor in winter.

It's about the difference between the mean for the 2010 normal period and the actual expected early 2020's temperatures given the amount of warming happening. If the difference is 1 degree then 2021 Toronto probably is like 2010 normals Windsor.

It's smaller than the difference you can find by looking at different official weather stations in various metro areas. For example downtown Toronto or the island airport versus Pearson.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by north 42

I love hitting that milestone, we have about two more weeks till we get there.

I've never made note of this date with us or anyone else before for some reason. Our winters are more humid than our summers which helps moderate the colder temps and gives us the mild 7b hardiness zone.

[flar]

Mean temperatures just don't tell the whole story. Chicago and Detroit obviously have similar climates, they are only four hours apart and are in the Great Lakes region. Detroit is *slightly* more moderated because it's in the middle of the lakes, while Chicago is on the edge and has more exposure to the temperature swings of the Great Plains.

That was my initial comment, that Chicago gets more extremes of hot and cold, which is true, but not something that is reflected in mean temperature (I guess it might show up in the standard deviation). I also suspect if you plotted temperature normals by date Chicago would have a *slightly* steeper slope in the spring and fall. I would check this if I had time today.

But again, this is all nuance. Just like there is slight qualitative difference between Windsor and Toronto winters, even though the stats are very close, I think Chicago and Windsor/Detroit also have slight qualitative differences (wind would be one aspect of this).

[Denscity]

Looks like today is our coldest forecasted day of this winter:

High -4C

Low -8C

Very sunny tho looks pretty good out there.