Toronto just smashed a decades-old temperature record

It's not often that people in Toronto can wear shorts prior to May 2-4 without looking dumb — let alone before Easter weekend — but hey, miracles sometimes happen.... even if only for a few fleeting hours.

According to Environment Canada's historical weather records, Toronto just saw its warmest March 25 in recorded history.

With a high of 21.5 C, yesterday felt more like summer than spring, which is saying a lot since it often still feels like winter at this time of year.

To wit: The average high temperature for March 25 in Canada's largest city is listed on EnviroCan's website as 6.1 C. The average low? -3.3 C. Prior to 2021, the highest temperature recorded on March 25 was in 2000 at 20.9 C.

Record warmth yesterday, 21.5C at Pearson broke the record of 20.9C & was seasonal for late May! The low of 7.5C was above the normal high & the warmest minimum on record for the date; Previous day also broke the daily record w/ 6.6C; Cooler but still above seasonal this weekend pic.twitter.com/2OIK9GLl1q

— Doug Gillham (@gtaweather1) March 26, 2021

 Sadly, our brief burst of summer didn't last very long. The patios and parks that were packed with revelers just yesterday are now soaking wet and chilly as thunderstorms sweep through the region.

Showers are expected to last on and off until at least Sunday night when Toronto will see a chance of flurries (!!) as we experience one of our characteristic wacky temperature swings.

The sun won't come out in Toronto again for any sustained amount of time until Monday, if meteorologists are correct, when temperatures hit a high of 6 C.

Tuesday, though, is when the patios will really pop off again with a forecasted high of 12 C and nothing but sunny skies.