Canada on the hunt for its first 30 C after notching a 25 C reading

While there may be another shot of wintry weather in parts of Canada before it's gone for good for the next several months, other areas of the country are moving ahead with summer-like weather already.

For southern Ontario, above-normal warmth has already infiltrated the region this spring, with several locales hitting the 20-degree mark in March. It should come as no surprise then that a community in the region scored the country's first 25 C reading in 2024.

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St. Catharines, Ont., was the lucky community to score Canada's first 25-degree high. The city obtained a balmy 25.5 C temperature on Tuesday, April 9, underneath beautiful, sunny skies and accompanied by a warm, southwesterly wind.

Also on that day, of note, is Ottawa documenting its first 21 C daytime high of the year, just a few degrees shy of the aforementioned community. To put a feather in its cap this week, Ottawa was Canada's hot spot on Wednesday after securing a 21.9 C daytime high.

While it may seem odd to reach this feat anywhere in the country in April, it's actually on par for somewhere across Canada to do so, partly due to the growing sunlight hours spring has to offer.

When can we expect a 30 C daytime high?

With the mid-20-degree mark having been reached, it begs the question: When will Canada record a 30 C reading?

With just a little more than half April left to go, is it feasible to occur this month? It's possible, but the weather has to be "just right," says Rachel Modestino, a meteorologist at The Weather Network.

"Historically speaking," 30 C in April has occurred before, but only a handful of times in recent memory, she added.

In 2023, the first occurrence of a 30 C daytime high that year was documented on April 13 in Peterborough, followed shortly by Ottawa in the same day. It was the earliest recording of a 30 C reading in the National Capital Region.

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Before then, a series of 30 C days were recorded in 2009, but then the list gets smaller from there.

However, for the country to record a 30 C this year in April will be a tough feat, Modestino said.

"We [would] be looking for strong areas of high pressure, meaning sunny skies and unusual summer-like heat. The anomaly would have to be strong enough to nearly double April’s climate average across Canada’s major cities," said Modestino.

But, the pattern in Canada isn't looking favourable over the next few weeks, with no signals of the needed extremes in sight.

So, what that means is more changeable and typical spring pattern, Modestino said. The results are "periods of rain, but pleasant patio weather to follow," with the latter a welcome sight for Canadians.

"A sneaky 30 C is still possible, but it would rely on local factors such as wind direction, chinooks and topography, notoriously difficult to forecast weeks in advance," said Modestino.

The good news is a higher confidence that the ever-expanding daylight may make up for the five-degree difference in May.

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With files from Rachel Modestino, a meteorologist at The Weather Network.