After a shockingly dreary and not-at-all-festive-feeling holiday season, people in and around Toronto are struggling to find any semblance of joy under stubbornly gloomy skies that have us all in a funk.

This winter's unseasonably mild temperatures and lack of snow have meant some very wet, overcast and hazy days that residents aren't used to for this time of year.

the nearly 30 days of cloudy sky in Toronto is already making me depressed

— monicacooledit (@cooleditphoto) January 5, 2024

Instead of skating rinks, we've had pools of murky water the city is unable to keep frozen. Instead of ski hills, we have unsightly muddy trails with only a handful of lifts open, if they're open at all. Instead of a white Christmas, we got fog — a lot of it.

The city actually set records for the amount of rain and fog we experienced in December, with 15 days of the former (compared to the seven that is typical for the month), and more than a whopping 200 hours of fog spread across a brutal 17 days.

I was thinking maybe I'm feeling depressed because holidays can prompt that kind of thing, but then I realized the sun has only come out once in Toronto in the last two weeks, yesterday, and it's back to cloudy today. This is the next 7 days. Be nice to yourself out there folks. pic.twitter.com/nAmiQVsWsR

— Dean Dettloff (@DeanDettloff) January 5, 2024

It's got people feeling quite a bit more seasonally depressed than usual, with many wondering how long the region is doomed to be shrouded in dispiriting darkness, because it already feels like it's been forever.

Warmer conditions from this year's El Niño (and perhaps, a dying planet) are largely to blame for the unnatural climate that is breaking long-standing weather records across the country, including here in T.O., where we had some of the hottest December days and the latest arrival of sub-zero temps in more than 180 years.

GTAA: Where is the sun?!
byu/ihugsyi inontario

This was after a concerningly long stretch of balmy weather that extended our patio season and delayed our fall colours.

As worrying as the late start to autumn was for some, we're all craving that nicer weather now, though we were given a brief reprieve from the grey with a peek of sunlight on Thursday.

It was the first dose of natural Vitamin D of 2024 and also the first in more than two weeks, and was thus very much appreciated, despite the frigid temperatures it came with (which were also a first — the first time it actually felt like winter all season).

Weeks, it felt...😰

— •*♤♧●*$£¥n€#*●♡◇*• (@gunner222L) January 5, 2024

But alas, the sunlight was short-lived before we were back to bleak cloud cover on Friday, which is set to persist for at least a few days, if not longer.

"The light at the end of the tunnel will be brief, with the weeks ahead expected to stay grey," The Weather Network wrote on Thursday, warning citizens of "more cloud cover and even snowfall for this weekend."

I hate that my skin hasn’t touched the sun for like a month why is toronto so cloudy and sad everyday

— Cralos (@GreenThundr2909) December 30, 2023

Though this winter might be particularly draining due to its lack of sun, hopefully we will be extra thankful and take full advantage of the weather when our few warmer months roll around, in the way Toronto always does.