How would you rate your city's climate

[J-MAN]

I'm kind of a climate nut.. Firstly what city are you in? How would you rate your city's overall climate (alright, amazing, ect.)? Also how would you rate your city's spring, summer, fall, and winter? How many months is your city's summer?

[Symz]

From Windsor.

I would say Windsor's like the banana belt of Canada. Our summers are hot and very humid and though I've lived here all my life I still have a hard time with the high humidity in summer, I love it when I go up north camping in the summer and it's 80 with low humidity.

We get violent thunderstorms in summer too and my guess is we're the tornado capital of the country.

Winters are hit and miss, sometimes they're cold, sometimes cold and snowy, and other times relatively milder and instead we get rain more than snow.

We always say, 'if you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes', sometimes it changes that freakishly.

[suburbanite]

Oakville has my ideal climate. Summers are warm but not usually too hot. The winters are cold enough and we get enough snow that you can do all of the usual winter activities, but not so bad that it's miserable.

Everyone warned me of how Waterloo is in the snow belt and how bad the winters can be here, but so far it's been one of the mildest winters I can remember.

Edit: So I guess I'd give it an 8.5/10

[someone123]

Hmm.. for calibration purposes I'd consider San Francisco's climate a 9. It is pretty close to ideal weather for me. Here's how I'd rate Vancouver, Halifax, and Toronto:

Vancouver - 7

Good:
-Fairly mild overall.
-Light winds and not many storms.
-Spring starts early in the year, often in February.

Bad:
-Too dark in the winter.

Random observations:
-Many people think Vancouver is rainy year-round but it's not. It is quite sunny and dry during the warmer part of the year.

Halifax - 6

Good:
-Nice mix of weather. Winter has lots of sunny days and is cold but does not go below 0 for long stretches.
-Less mild than Vancouver, but still mild for Canada.

Bad:
-Spring is very slow and crappy. It would be far better if Feb-May were about 5 degrees warmer.
-Lots of storms with high winds. Sometimes interesting but Halifax gets too many.

Random observations:
-Many Canadians think Halifax has much worse weather than it does.

Toronto - 5

Good:
-Late spring weather is nice.

Bad:
-Too hot in the summer, and air quality is sometimes poor.

[Ayreonaut]

Calgary: I'd say it's pretty close to 'amazing' but I love bitter cold winters. It's usually a very sunny city with very comfortable summers and cool to cold winters. The only thing I really don't like are the Chinooks; they're messy. I can't think of many climates I would prefer over Calgary's.

St. John's: Pretty dreadful overall. Wet, windy, cloudy/overcast. I love the big dumps of snow, so from late December to March it's much better, but even during that time it gets above freezing quite often and we get rain (like today). If it were a little colder during the winter it would be much better. Autumn and spring suck. I've been told there's usually one good month in the summer; this year it was definitely the last 3 weeks of August and the first bit of September. It was quite nice.

Cherryville, BC (midway between the North Okanagan and the Arrows): Decent. Some good heat waves during the summer (high 30s for a bit), which make for great days at the lakes. The spring is quite wet, but definitely necessary or else the area would be a matchbox come summer. Winters are rather mild; not much snow accumulation down low, but usually plenty up high which is great for sledding. I haven't spent much time there in the fall, but I don't think it's very good or very bad.

[Boreal]

Winnipeg... 7.8/10 = B+

Winnipeg is an interesting beast. Without looking into the data, I'm not sure any other large-ish city in Canada has the temperature swings we do (Edmonton?). January and February are often the worst months, with generally a two or three week span that bring some abominably cold temperatures that literally take your breath away and freeze you in seconds. That not withstanding, much of the winter is tolerably cold and snow fall is limited (it just never disappears, so it appears as though we get our fair share vis a vis say, Ottawa). Outdoor ice rinks are generally in great condition, so if that is your thing, Winnipeg winter can be alluring. Even with the cold, this is one of the sunniest places in the country, so you do not have to deal with grey-sky depression which plagues some other locales.

Winter unfortunately drags on, meaning warm spring temperatures do not arrive until early June (May at least the last two years has not exactly been balmy). Where Winnipeg shines though is during the summer. Spring disappears very quickly, and real summer weather arrives in June, often extending to the end of September. This is nearly four months of hot, dry, and extraordinarily sunny weather. It makes cabin country (cottage country is Ontario) just spectacular.

As a personal preference, I love autumn here, with the brilliant colors, and cool, brisk temperatures. Outdoor football in just a sweater can be enjoyed for anywhere from 5 to 8 weeks in my estimation, generally paralleling the final weeks and playoffs of the CFL season.

As an added bonus, the summer storms on the prairies are rather spectacular, and in my experience really go unrivaled anywhere else. They do not happen particularly often, but they are quite the spectacle when they do.

The only thing keeping Winnipeg from being a 10/10 for me is the the bitter winter.

I suppose if I had to rate a 10/10, I might be inclined to use Chicago as my barometer.

[Doug]

I hate cold and really don't like rain and clouds all that much either, so:

Interior BC - 6
Coastal BC -4
Edmonton/Saskatoon/Regina/Winnipeg - 1
Rest of Canada - 3


Perth, Australia - 10
San Diego - 10
Honolulu - 10

[north 42]

Windsor

I love the climate here in Windsor, it's probably the best in Canada, along with the southern BC area.

Winter - Winters are usually pleasant, average highs are right around the freezing mark, often going much higher. We get some snow, but no major squalls like the London area.

Spring - Spring starts in March, and by April the leaves are out on the trees. We get a fair amount of rain in spring, and some late snows even into April, but not often.

Summer - Summers are very hot and humid, which I love! We get more thunderstorms and tornadoes than anywhere else in Canada, more similar to the midwestern states than parts of Canada. We can get smog though since we're so close to the industrial midwest, which sucks.

Fall - Fall is the best season, usually sunny and mild up untill November, then it cools off and the rains start. The first snow usually doesn't fall until late Nov or early December.


We have the longest growing season outside of the BC coast, and can grow quite a few exotic plants that won't grow much further north. Most outside patios are open from April through Nov, with lots of people wearing shorts and short sleeves in that same time frame. It pays to be the most southern Canadian city!

[Calgarian]

Id give Calgary a 7. It can be brutally cold in the winter (which lasts from mid November to mid March), but most of the time it's between -10 and +10. Spring is the wettest time of year, it usually snows the most in April (but never lasts more than a day or 2) May is a mix of rain and snow, while June is usually quite rainy (and on the very rare occasion we can get snow). July - September is generally awesome, though with the dry air and high elevation it can be cool at night. July and early August have thunderstorms almost daily, but by mid August it's usually pretty hot and dry (grass turns a brownish white colour). October is usually pretty nice, but early cold snaps and snow happen occasionally.

I wish we had hotter, longer summers, but what can you do.

[vid]

Too cold and sunny in winter. To grey and rainy in spring. To hot and humid in summer. Too grey windy in fall. It's nice for a two week period in mid June and late September but other than that it's crap.

If we define summer as above 20 and leaves on the trees, our summer is from the beginning of June to the end of September.

[chrisallard5454]

Winnipeg - 10/10

I LOVE COLD!!!!

Alright I actually love activities that relate to cold rather than the cold itself, but I also prefer being too cold rather than too hot.
Everything Boreal said is completely true about Winnipeg. The winters are not near as bad as everyone makes them out to be. Unfortunately it seems like whenever someone travels to Winnipeg in the winter it is during the two week killer in January/February (whenever it comes). This winter the majority of January was actually warmer than in Ontario (sadly). The air is also really dry so it doesn't chill to the bones quite like some other places that have far higher winter temperatures.

Pluses:
-Hot and dry summers.
-Sunny all year round
-Generally windy during the summers, which provides a breeze to cool you off on the really hot days.
-Rare but beautiful and exciting summer storms
-Beautiful mild/sunny falls
-Beautiful cold, dry, and sunny winters.

Minuses:
-Sometimes there is a period in the spring where the cold drags on, but it isn't cold enough to continue with winter activities, so it creates a desire for summer. But this in a positive form can be seen as a plus as it makes summer all that much more exciting!

Southwestern Ontario

Toronto 7.5/10 - K/W-Guelph 8.5/10 - London 7/10

Really don't like the summers or the winters. As I said I love cold. The truth is I prefer cold over heat. My biggest pet peeve is sweating with clothes on (don't mind it at the beach or what not) and you don't even have to move in the summer to sweat because of the humidity. It is very wet and very stormy all summer long. There is a lot of rain (though probably nothing compared to BC). The falls are gorgeous however, as they are in most places. The winters are where my biggest problems lie. They are all over the place. It snow's way too much. And then melts. And then rains. And then freezing rain. And then melts... And so on and so forth. It never really can make up its mind. And it is to mild for my liking. The only rink I can skate on is a cooled rink and no sticks are allowed. I also actually find the winters here to be a bad kind of cold. At minus 10 it will freeze into your bones simply because of the moisture. But Southwestern Ontario does have some spectacular storms as well. Especially along Lake Erie. A storm can whip up in minutes on that lake!

[caltrane74]

Toronto - rated 6.5 for average

- mundane, steady weather
- kinda like the weather in a Woody Allen Manhatten movie
- grey moody skies everyday and no rain
- makes the city very grey
- but, you don't notice the weather here - you exist in it
- the weather here won't piss you off, but it won't make you smile either
- places you would rather be than Toronto: Hawaii, Trinidad, Manilia, Las Vegas, Split, Monaco, Marsailles, Cannes, Los Angeles, Miami, Brisbane, San Deigo, Cape Town, or Durban, because the weather is better there.

[Ayreonaut]

Originally Posted by Doug

Perth, Australia - 10
San Diego - 10

I have a friend from Perth. A few weeks back she said it was hitting 40+ every day. I'd be frigging useless in that heat!

San Diego, on the other hand, I can see being attractive. My cousin lives there right now, and it's pretty much in the low-mid 20s year round. I think I would hate to lose my beloved winter, but I could probably do SD for a year or two as long as I got to visit Calgary over Christmas.

[MonkeyRonin]

Nowhere in Canada has what I'd call a "good" climate.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Ayreonaut

I have a friend from Perth. A few weeks back she said it was hitting 40+ every day. I'd be frigging useless in that heat!

San Diego, on the other hand, I can see being attractive. My cousin lives there right now, and it's pretty much in the low-mid 20s year round. I think I would hate to lose my beloved winter, but I could probably do SD for a year or two as long as I got to visit Calgary over Christmas.

I lived there for 3 years. There aren't that many days over about 35. When it does get hot, it actually stays relatively comfortable due to low humidity and moderate breezes off the ocean. We purposely didn't use air conditioning and got acclimatized.

I think I grew up in the wrong climate. I belong in the desert. I've never been sunburned in my life, am perfectly fine exerting myself outside at 40C as long as it isn't humid and find most Canadian cities to smell like mould in the summer.

[J-MAN]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Nowhere in Canada has what I'd call a "good" climate.

What do you mean by that?

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by J-MAN

What do you mean by that?

That everywhere in Canada has a bad climate.

[haligonia]

Halifax

Summer: Great! It seems to hover in the low-to-mid twenties for most of the summer (July, August, early September), and it's almost always sunny, however it is late starting. 8/10

Autumn: The best season in Halifax, by far. The days are crisp, not too hot yet not too cold. October and November are my favourite months for this reason. 9/10

Winter: Winter is fine, nothing that great but nothing terrible. It's never extremely cold, but the temperature does seem to fluctuate quite a bit, which causes many melting/freezing periods. Overall, not bad. 7/10

Spring: Cloudy, often rainy and wet. Not the best. 5/10

Average: 7.25

[Marty_Mcfly]

St. John's - I'd give it a 5

Summer: Best season, but it's too short. June is quite unpredictable, and often rainy, foggy and cool. July through September is (usually) ideal. Mid-twenties, a lot of sun, nice ocean breeze to keep it from getting too hot. Last summer was dreadful though, with summer not rolling in to town until sometime in August. Worst summer I can honestly ever remember.

Fall: Also nice. September through October are absolutely amazing, temperatures usually around 10-15 degrees, and it's mostly sunny. November is a bit cooler, around 5 degrees, and a lot darker. More grey, more rain.

Winter: Depressing. Dark and wet. December through March are just awful, often bouncing between cold and snowy, and warm'ish (around 3-5) and rainy. It may snow 30cm and two days later have 30mm of rain. The sun appears to take a trip south for these months.

Spring: Non-existent. March through June is just an extension of winter. It's still snow-y in to April, and even then it snows occasionally through late April and even in to May. It's cold, ranging from 0 in march/april to about 10 in June. The sun decides to come back around May, but only makes the occasional visit. May/June are also quite foggy.

Overall: ....I'm questioning the reason as to why I live here

[Nicko999]

I love heat and humidity along with t-storms in summer.

so...

Montreal: 8/10


Winters: Hate it, way too much snow and too cold for my liking. I love big snowstorms and they do happen 1-3 times a year so that's nice but the 3 months snow cover can be very depressing.

Spring: I have mixed feelings about spring. I love it because it warms by mid-March and the snow disappears but it can be damn ugly due to the garbage that is uncovered by the melting snow. Trees start budding in April.

Summer: GREAT!!! Warm and humid the way I like it. We have the second warmest nights in the country after Windsor and we're the second most humid place as well (after Windsor once again). We also get at least a few thunderstorms per week so it keeps everything green with plenty of sunshine hours. Summer can start as early as May sometimes. You will rarely see storms bringing rain... all the precipitation comes from t-storms until September. Summer in Montreal... it doesn't get any better.

Fall: We have gorgeous falls... one of the best colors in the world. Growing season is pretty long compared to other areas, first freeze is expected mid-October. Because of our latitude, we enjoy more daylight than other non Southern Ontario cities. Trees have leaves on them until November so that's great. It stays warm until October.

Notes:
-Montreal is NOT a windy city which is great.
-The sun is stronger than most places in Canada due to our latitude.
-People are often surprised but our growing season is as long as Toronto's.


My 10/10s

Miami, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Bahamas
Any other tropical places