Statistics Canada Reports II

[MolsonExport]

I remember how early the sun goes down in Edmonton during the shortest months of the year. This is the thing I hate the most about winter.

[svlt]

Originally Posted by zoomer

And ideal winter for me would be an average high of 12 C for the coldest month and warming up by two degrees C per month until summer. So, no where in Canada as of 2026, lol.

You're gonna get that in Victoria in like, end of the century. Finally, the perfect climate.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

I remember how early the sun goes down in Edmonton during the shortest months of the year. This is the thing I hate the most about winter.

Contrast that with long Spring and Summer nights. Edmonton has more sunnier days than most Canadian Metros at 325 days (Toronto is 305) and approximately 2,345 hours of sun (Toronto is around 2,066 hours).

Sunset times for Edmonton 2026:

March 27- 8:00 pm
April 13 - 8:31 pm
April 29 - 9:00 pm
May 16 - 9:30 pm, almost 16 hours of daylight
June 8 - 10:00 pm, almost 17 hours of daylight

Between June 14 and June 27, Edmonton gets 17 hours of daylight!
The sunset stays at 10 pm until July 11th and still sets around 9:30 pm until August 1st.
To me, in my humble opinion, the long Spring and Summer nights and more days and hours of sunshine help make up for the cold winters, that are not nearly as cold as Winnipeg, Saskatoon or Regina.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Is Edmonton really not nearly as cold as Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon??

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

Is Edmonton really not nearly as cold as Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon??

Not on average, compared to Winnipeg, although it gets cold in Edmonton too. The average daily high in Winnipeg in January is -11c while it is -6c in Edmonton - 5 degrees is a pretty big difference. To compensate, in the warmer half of the year, Winnipeg is a lot warmer. For example, Edmonton has never had a recorded 100F temperature while Winnipeg's record highs for every month from May to September are 100F or above.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by Andy6

Not on average, compared to Winnipeg, although it gets cold in Edmonton too. The average daily high in Winnipeg in January is -11c while it is -6c in Edmonton - 5 degrees is a pretty big difference. To compensate, in the warmer half of the year, Winnipeg is a lot warmer. For example, Edmonton has never had a recorded 100F temperature while Winnipeg's record highs for every month from May to September are 100F or above.

If phrase that as, “not quite as cold” then lol

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by MattBerryOfficial

Montreal, QC, and Ottawa have similarly cold winters compared to Edmonton. For whatever reason the prairies have a reputation for being Siberia when regions of eastern Canada get a pass.

From who? Here in SWO both Ottawa and Montreal are also considered to be Siberia.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by jonny24

From who? Here in SWO both Ottawa and Montreal are also considered to be Siberia.

You consider Caledonia and Hamilton to be Southwestern Ontario?

To me it's Windsor, Sarnia, Chatham, London.
West of Brantford like Stratford, Ingersoll, Tillsonburg at least, anyway

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Wigs

You consider Caledonia and Hamilton to be Southwestern Ontario?

To me it's Windsor, Sarnia, Chatham, London.
West of Brantford like Stratford, Ingersoll, Tillsonburg at least, anyway

The definition of SWO has definitely shifted west over the years. Once upon a time, K-W was considered "Central SW Ontario". At that time, even Toronto was SWO.

[Harrison]

Originally Posted by Andy6

Not on average, compared to Winnipeg, although it gets cold in Edmonton too. The average daily high in Winnipeg in January is -11c while it is -6c in Edmonton - 5 degrees is a pretty big difference. To compensate, in the warmer half of the year, Winnipeg is a lot warmer. For example, Edmonton has never had a recorded 100F temperature while Winnipeg's record highs for every month from May to September are 100F or above.

Summers in Winnipeg are also much more humid than anywhere in Alberta.

[harls]

Originally Posted by jonny24

From who? Here in SWO both Ottawa and Montreal are also considered to be Siberia.

Well, we don't have plug-ins installed at our apartment complexes.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by harls

Well, we don't have plug-ins installed at our apartment complexes.

Many in Ottawa do.

[harls]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Many in Ottawa do.

Where?

I've been here for 20 years and never seen them.

[DesignerGuy]

Ottawa and Montreal have pretty much the same average highs as SW Ontario from May-October with a 1-2 degree difference from Windsor. It's only the winter that is significantly colder with average highs of -2 in Dec, -5 in Jan and -4 in February

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

The definition of SWO has definitely shifted west over the years. Once upon a time, K-W was considered "Central SW Ontario". At that time, even Toronto was SWO.

Fair enough. It was just odd to see a guy that lives in Hamilton or Caledonia call it that.
You can tell you're really in Southwestern Ontario when the accent shift is distinct
I knew a woman from Watford, a guy from the outskirts of London (Strathroy maybe?) and a woman from Goderich. Distinct accent from those in Niagara or Hamilton. It sounds rural and kind of funny to me

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by DesignerGuy

Ottawa and Montreal have pretty much the same average highs as SW Ontario from May-October with a 1-2 degree difference from Windsor. It's only the winter that is significantly colder with average highs of -2 in Dec, -5 in Jan and -4 in February

Yes summers aren't as different, but there is a much smaller difference of climate across the globe in summers in general. Basically the entire northern hemisphere has average highs between 20 and 30 degrees in July.

The median daily high in Windsor in January is +0.5 degrees, it's -5.5 in Ottawa, -5.0 in Montreal, and -6.5 in Edmonton. Having average highs above freezing is an especially important difference as it keeps snow off the ground for the most part.. Snow just doesn't (generally) accumulate in the same way in SW Ontario compared to places like Ottawa or Edmonton.

Windsor experiences an average of 138 days with highs above 20, Edmonton experiences just 88. That's 56% more! For 30+ degree days, Windsor sees 23 a year while Edmonton sees just 4!

Windsor also experiences 227 above 10 degrees, Edmonton sees just 188.

Windsor sees only 44 days a year with highs below freezing - Edmonton sees almost double that at 82.

So Windsor sees another 50 days (nearly 2 months!) of summer weather, and sees about 1/2 the number of days below freezing.

And it gets even more extreme if you look at average lows - 179 days a year are below freezing overnight in Edmonton vs. 116 in Windsor.. And 25 nights a year see -20 in Edmonton compared to just 1 in Windsor! That's equivalent to two more months of below-freezing weather. That's a big difference.

[ericmacm]

Anecdotally, from previously living in Windsor for 6 years - Windsor gets pretty hot and humid in the summer and you get lots of thunderstorms. The winters are significantly milder than anywhere else in Ontario and they don’t get very much snow at all compared to even just 2hrs up the road in London. I went to a friend’s wedding back in December after we got 1+ft of snow overnight, they had no snow and it was warm enough to spend time outdoors which was very surprising. We absolutely got snow when I was living down there but it typically wouldn’t last very long. It does get pretty cloudy though, I tended to find that Leamington further south would consistently get more sun.

The true magic of the warmer weather down in Windsor tends to manifest in the plants. Spring starts a few weeks earlier than it does in London and you can grow more types of flowers and trees than you normally would be able to elsewhere in Ontario. It is a big place for deciduous flowering trees like cherry and dogwood. When I lived down there it was not uncommon to see both the city and the general public planting windmill palms outside in the summer.

[Wigs]

In Southwestern Ontario those near Lake Huron seem to be in a snow belt. Roughly in this area but someone else with more knowledge could better create the boundary

[kora]

Originally Posted by svlt

You're gonna get that in Victoria in like, end of the century. Finally, the perfect climate.

In Victoria this winter we had many nights from Dec-Feb where the *low temperature was +7 or 8 degrees.

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by Wigs

You consider Caledonia and Hamilton to be Southwestern Ontario?

To me it's Windsor, Sarnia, Chatham, London.
West of Brantford like Stratford, Ingersoll, Tillsonburg at least, anyway

I grew up in Norfolk and that definitely is SWO.

To me the line is ~roughly the Grand River, extending a bit east of that because of the big cities that straddle it. KWC is certainly SWO.

Haldimand County being formerly part of a combined Haldimand-Norfolk, is split physically and regionally by the Grand. The western side is SWO and the eastern side is Niagara Peninsular, to me anyway.

To return to the original point - Montreal and Ottawa are Siberia compared to Hamilton, too