Toronto just smashed a very concerning weather record

Canadians are no strangers to our characteristic weather extremes, but Toronto has been breaking climate record after climate record over the last year or so — mostly in regards to heat, which has people fretting about the state of the planet.

Fall and winter made very late arrivals last year, with balmy temps sticking around long enough to actually defer the region’s characteristic turning of the leaves. And, it’s something that may very well end up happening again, given the trend we’re on as we enter the chillier months.

Sunday was the first official day of autumn in the city, but the weekend also marked another milestone: the lengthiest stretch of days above 8 C ever recorded in history.

🥇Toronto hasn’t recorded a temperature below 8°C in 147 days, which is the longest run on record.

byu/YOW-Weather-Records intoronto

According to Environment Canada data, the 149-day period from April 27 to September 22, 2024 was the longest consecutive run of thermometers sitting above that mark, with only a span of spring to fall 2011 — which was 148 days long — coming in second-place.

The region’s climate history has been formally tracked since 1840, making this phenomenon the most dramatic in 184 years.

Many people online worry about what this means, not just for this fall and winter but for “the expected weather in general for the rest of our natural lives,” as one person on social media put it.

“Reminder that this will be the coldest summer for the rest of our lives” one local quipped in a Reddit discussion about the newly-shattered record.

“Also the shortest interval of the next 100,000 years!” another joked.

Still, others worried about the upcoming winter sports season, as last year’s was absolutely abysmal, with Blue Mountain at points looking more like a mudslide than a skier’s powdery dream, and the Rideau Canal Skateway not frozen enough to open for the first time in its history.