'A weekend washout for the GTA': Climatologist on weather update in Toronto

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]The weather is not great today.

[00:00:01]Environment Canada has the entire greater Toronto area under a special weather statement. Here's a live look outside. The rain continues to fall. We are seeing the warnings out there that suggest we could see between 30 to 50 millimeters of rain by tonight. The rain is expected to become light drizzle later this evening and then into tomorrow morning. So, for a closer look at that and a look at the summer forecast, let's bring in environment climatologist Dave Phillips. Good morning, Dave. Great to see you. Uh let's start by talking about this system that we have in the greater Toronto area. What are we looking at for the rest of our weekend?

[00:00:35]>> Well, Courtney, yes, it's a Memorial Day storm that came in from the United States and started raining about 7:00 this morning in in Toronto earlier in the southwestern part of Ontario of uh and and so it's going to be an all day affair. Today looks like the worst of the two days. It's a certainly a soggy Saturday and Sunday, but uh and and almost a weekend wash out truly for the GTA. Uh we're going to see uh you're right, we're going to see 30 to 50 millimeters of rain. Uh some of that has fallen, but it's going to pick up even this afternoon and tonight and and then turn to drizzle early tomorrow morning and then probably over by noon. Uh and then later Sunday night, uh uh we could see another pulse coming in. But Courtney, it is also about the winds.

[00:01:21]The winds are 30 to 50 kilometers per hour. So the rain is going to fall down like it always does, but it's going to blow horizontally because of those strong winds. And then Courtney, just to add even more misery to the situation, temperatures, I mean, we should be really at 21 degrees in Toronto. We're going to be a high if we're lucky at 13.

[00:01:40]Eight degrees cooler than normal. So cloudy, cool, wet, windy. It's about as miserable as you could get for this uh this time of the uh of the year and uh and really not very the system's going to move very slowly because of a system in the Maritimes. So, we're going to deal with this for several hours. We're not going to miss it. It's going to be a really soggy day and add more to the rain. It's been certainly a cool, wet spring and this will just be another one of those days. We thought it would be over last Sunday, Monday, Tuesday when we got those 30° temperatures, but boy, we've had frost conditions after that.

[00:02:17]And this is very inclement kind of weather. So, hey, it's something that we're used to. But hey, uh people can uh can still get out and enjoy it as long as you're you're dressed for it.

[00:02:28]>> Yeah, you really have to dress for it today and have something warmer on. I can't believe we're sitting at 9° right now. Dave, let's talk about the big picture though when we look forward to the summer. I know the summer forecast is out. What are you seeing? It sounds like it's quite encouraging.

[00:02:41]>> Yes, it is, Courtney. You know, um we've been put it's been disappointing in the spring. We've had little teasers and that. But we really want some weather that's persistent. You know, day after day, you can wake up on a Monday and plan something on Thursday knowing that look at this is our forecast. I mean, how could be better than that? From coast to coast to coast, we're saying June, July, and August looks like it's going to be warmer than normal. Now, not necessarily when you take your holidays.

[00:03:08]Not every day, but we think the flavor, the personality, come by Labor Day, we'll say, "My gosh, we've been doing a lot of complaining about the heat and humidity." And we've had so this cool is going to give give rise to this warmer than normal conditions across the um the country and and everybody can can sort of sort of lay claim to to almost summery like conditions. It's been a long while. We've had kind of a a tough winter and a and a disappointing spring, but it's finally going to come. And it won't just be one or two days, Courtney.

[00:03:38]It'll be persistent. We can plan our our activities and get out and enjoy situation. The wet weather will have made certainly our crops can grow feverishly. We need the warm to warm that up. So, I can see I can almost taste the strawberries. It may be a little later in June, but they're going to be sweet because of the wet weather.

[00:03:58]And uh and so now the ground is going to uh uh get sort of warmed up and and it's just nothing but good news ahead of us.

[00:04:06]Of course, that does sometimes mean, Courtney, severe weather. We've had some some examples of that already, but my sense it is the temperatures. We can get this layered down look and get rid of all that that coats and jackets and and get out into the muscle shirts and tank tops and and enjoy the outdoor situation here in in the GTA. Yeah, I think so many of us are desperate for that at this point.

[00:04:30]>> Truly, we're getting we're saying we're it's unfair. What do we do to deserve this? But no, I think nature has heard, got the email, and is actually going to give us uh weather that Well, Courtney, as you you know, we always like to complain about the weather. So, my sense is that we're going to see it warm and people will say, "Gee, it's too warm.

[00:04:49]Um, I won't now complain about the cold in the winter." No, that'll never happen. We always like to complain about the weather.

[00:04:54]>> We certainly do. Environment Canada climatologist Dave Phillips joining us live. Thank you so much, Dave, for your time this morning. We appreciate it.

[00:05:00]>> You're so welcome, Courtney. Bye-bye.