winter snow toronto

Winter has officially arrived and here's when Toronto can expect a deep freeze

Toronto’s record-breaking spell of mild temperatures leading up to the start of astronomic winter on December 21 has taken a White Christmas off the table, and has many locals wondering when and if the real cold season will take hold.

The next few days will be more of the same unseasonably warm temperatures, with a weekend forecast calling for a weak, low-pressure system bringing freezing rain to the Greater Toronto Area leading up to a grey and gloomy Christmas.

While meteorologists have hinted that this season's El Niño system could cancel winter in western parts of the country, Ontario will probably see some very cold snaps in the months ahead.

Meanwhile, the city still awaits its first significant snowfall — though this could change in the coming weeks if forecasts come to fruition.

The province is predicted to experience the dreaded effects of a polar vortex in the first few weeks of 2024, before temperatures snap back to more comfortable above-seasonal averages in what The Weather Network is calling "a significant thaw event."

Toronto may even get its first major snowfall of the season in early January.

Those above-freezing daytime highs Toronto has enjoyed into late December will vanish as the new year arrives, with daytime highs not expected to exceed 0 C for a stretch beginning next Friday, December 29.

Temperatures will plunge to overnight lows in the negative mid-single digits into 2024, with light dustings of snow expected in Toronto on December 30 and 31, culminating in a projected 5 to 10 cm of snowfall on January 4.

So keep those boots and parkas on standby, Toronto. We could still have a long, cold winter ahead.

Lead photo by

Sonicgregu


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in City

Toronto just got a new waterfront park that's been years in the making

Here's why swarms of giant birds are being seen in Ontario skies right now

A parasitic fungus is turning Ontario creepy crawlies into suicidal zombies

Three different Ontario LRT lines are now in major trouble

Shocking hit-and-run video shows Ontario driver try to flee in totalled truck

Canada now has universal pharmacare here's how it will affect you

Alleged drunk driver crashes then tries to flee through Ontario police station

Northern Lights took over Ontario skies in rare show and the photos are out of this world