Environment and Climate Change Canada - Weather

Environment and Climate Change Canada - Weather Provide authoritative, timely, reliable and accurate information on weather and climate. Page Facebook en français: www.facebook.com/EnvironnementCanadaMeteo

Notice your alerts looking different? All weather alerts are now colour-coded! 🟨🟧🟥 Colours move from yellow, to orange...
12/05/2025

Notice your alerts looking different? All weather alerts are now colour-coded! 🟨🟧🟥

Colours move from yellow, to orange, to red, as risk increases, and are applied to ALL alert types—Warnings, Advisories, and Watches.

Where before all Warnings appeared red and all Watches appeared yellow, now the alert colour you see is tied to its risk, not type.

Also, all alert headings include the colour level, alert type, and weather hazard. Our new tiered alert colours quickly tell you the risk that the weather represents.

Colours are based on our forecast confidence and expected weather impacts.

Learn more about our new colour-coded weather alerts here👉https://ow.ly/Zety50XCASn

12/03/2025

❄️🌬️ The first real blast of Arctic air this season has swept across the country, bringing extreme cold temperatures and windchills with it.

Windchills have dropped below -30 across much of the Prairies, and parts of the North are experiencing bone-chilling windchills below -40. This sharp cold is a sudden shift after a warmer-than-average November across western and northern regions of Canada.

What to expect:
Temperatures east of the Rockies will stay below normal for the rest of the week. Extreme cold, with dangerous windchills ranging from -35 to -40 (or even lower) at times, will continue to affect:

✔️ Kivalliq and the eastern Northwest Territories
✔️ Far northeastern Saskatchewan and northern Manitoba
✔️ Far northwestern Ontario

🥶 Stay safe in the cold! Bundle up and protect as much skin as possible when outdoors. Remember to dress in layers and keep a lookout for signs of frostbite or hypothermia.

📷 Coldest windchill values observed across Canada from November 29 to December 2. The first -30 windchills of the season were recorded across much of the Prairies, as well as the first -40s across much of the North.

As fall transitions into winter, here's the temperature outlook for December. Check the map below to see whether tempera...
12/02/2025

As fall transitions into winter, here's the temperature outlook for December. Check the map below to see whether temperatures in your region are expected to be below, near, or above average. 👀 👇

➡️ Yellow to red: above average temperatures.
➡️ Blue: below average temperatures.
➡️ White: near average temperatures.

📷 Compared to the 30 months of December between the 1991-2020 period. This map shows the monthly average, not daily changes. There may be days when the difference from normal is larger or smaller than what is shown on the map.

🌨️ 🌨️ A Colorado Low will bring a swath of heavy snow and strong winds across much of central and eastern Canada from Sa...
11/28/2025

🌨️ 🌨️ A Colorado Low will bring a swath of heavy snow and strong winds across much of central and eastern Canada from Saturday through Monday.

➡️ Saturday: Snow will begin in southern Ontario late Saturday, adding to the significant amounts that have already fallen in the snowbelts downwind of Lake Huron.

➡️ Sunday: The heavy snow will spread from southern Ontario into southern Quebec.

➡️ Monday: Heavy snow will continue across Gaspésie, the north shore of Quebec, and Labrador. Strong winds will affect much of eastern Canada as the system moves out to sea by Tuesday.

⚠️Heavy snow and strong winds can greatly reduce visibility. If you plan to travel, stay updated and be ready for changing conditions. ❄️ 🚗

11/26/2025

🌩️ Severe weather can have different impacts, depending on the timing, location, and population where it hits.

That’s why all weather alerts—Warnings, Advisories, and Watches—are now colour-coded, moving from yellow, to orange, to red as the potential risk increases:

🟨 Yellow:
▪️ Hazardous weather may cause damage, disruption, or health impacts.
▪️ Impacts are moderate, localized and/or short-term.
▪️ Most common.

🟧 Orange:
▪️ Severe weather is likely to cause significant damage, disruption, or health impacts.
▪️ Impacts are major, widespread and/or may last a few days.
▪️ Uncommon.

🟥 Red:
▪️ Very dangerous and possibly life-threatening weather will cause extreme damage and disruption.
▪️ Impacts are extensive, widespread, and prolonged.
▪️ Rare.

Read your weather alerts! No matter the alert colour, we will always include details about the weather and actions you can take to be .

Learn more about the new colour-coded weather alerts: https://ow.ly/eIrg50XymcW

🌬️🌍 Did you know that strong winds can subtly impact how fast the Earth spins? It’s surprising, but true!As the atmosphe...
11/24/2025

🌬️🌍 Did you know that strong winds can subtly impact how fast the Earth spins? It’s surprising, but true!

As the atmosphere moves, especially in the jet stream and stratosphere, it exchanges momentum with the solid Earth, subtly altering our planet’s spin. When strong westerly winds accelerate, Earth rotates a tiny bit slower; when winds ease, it spins faster.

The effect is measured in mere milliseconds, but it can be tracked using satellites and atomic clocks. Scientists study these small changes to better understand weather patterns and improve climate and satellite data.

So, the next time you feel a strong wind, remember that it’s not just moving the air. In a small but fascinating way, it’s helping to set the pace of the planet itself!

This November marks the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald in the stormy waters of Lake Superio...
11/21/2025

This November marks the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald in the stormy waters of Lake Superior. 🌊 🚢

Battling hurricane-force winds and towering waves up to 8 metres, the ship and its 29 crew members were lost to one of the Great Lakes' fiercest storms.

🎶 Once the largest ship on the Great Lakes, the Fitzgerald’s legacy lives on through Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot’s haunting ballad “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

This tragedy remains a solemn reminder of the Great Lakes' power and a tribute to the courage of those who navigate its unpredictable waters.

📷 SS Edmund Fitzgerald. Credit: United States Army Corps of Engineers.United States Army Corps of Engineers.

November 18 has brought dramatic weather to Canada over the years. Here are some notable events:📍 1922: The steamer City...
11/18/2025

November 18 has brought dramatic weather to Canada over the years. Here are some notable events:

📍 1922: The steamer City of Dresden broke apart in a violent storm with 15 metre waves in Lake Erie at Long Point, only 9 metres away from the shore. It was carrying 1 000 cases and 500 kegs of bootleg whisky worth $50 000. Prohibition was in full swing in Canada and the United States, so the few survivors, along with nearby residents, hid the whisky. Very little of the illegal cargo was recovered by the police! 🍹

📍 1929: A tsunami hit the Burin Peninsula in southern Newfoundland, killing 28 people and destroying many homes. Big earthquakes are very rare in Newfoundland, so no one expected it. The disaster started with a 7.2-magnitude underwater earthquake, which caused little damage. It was the three successive waves that followed that proved devastating: sea levels rose by 3 to 7 metres in most areas, and in some narrow bays the water surged by 13 to 27 metres. 🌊

📍 2003: Mountain passes in British Columbia saw the season’s first heavy dose of wet, slushy snow on November 15-19. Hope saw 95.2 mm of rain and 77 cm of snow over five days. It also rained excessively in lower elevations with Chilliwack receiving 151 mm of rain. ☔

🌬️🌨️ Lake-effect snow affected southern Ontario from the weekend through Monday, with snow squalls creating whiteout con...
11/17/2025

🌬️🌨️ Lake-effect snow affected southern Ontario from the weekend through Monday, with snow squalls creating whiteout conditions and dangerous travel. So far, some areas picked up as much as 20 cm of localized snowfall, with an additional 10–15 cm expected today.

Lake effect snow occurs when chilly Arctic air passes over warmer lakes, creating towering clouds that unleash heavy, localized snowfalls.

Lake-effect snow isn't limited to the Great Lakes! It can also develop near:
➡️ Great Bear and Great Slave Lakes (Northwest Territories)
➡️ Lake Athabasca (Alberta and Saskatchewan)
➡️ Lakes Winnipeg and Winnipegosis (Manitoba)
➡️ Lake Nipigon (Ontario)

Sea effect snow can also occur under the same conditions over the Strait of Georgia, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the Bay of Fundy.Stay safe, and drive carefully in snow squall conditions!

❄️⛐ As the chill creeps in across Canada, many regions have already seen their first snowfall of the season, and for m...
11/15/2025

❄️⛐ As the chill creeps in across Canada, many regions have already seen their first snowfall of the season, and for many others, the real chill is just around the corner.

If you’re in British Columbia and driving along designated mountain highways, you’re likely ahead of the game with your winter tires installed since it's mandatory by October 1. If you live in Quebec, you're probably gearing up for the December 1 deadline to ensure you meet the provincial requirement.

But regardless of where you’re located, though, one question remains: When is the right time to switch to winter tires?

7°C is the magic number! When daytime highs consistently dip below that mark, it’s time to make the swap. Winter tires stay flexible in the cold, giving you better grip on cold, dry pavement, not just snow-covered roads.

Even if your province doesn’t require winter tires by law, the temperature might be hinting that it’s time to make the switch. Stay safe on the roads and be ! ❄️🚗👍

👉 Learn more on using winter tires: https://ow.ly/rpeB50XryfI

November is upon us, bringing less daylight and greater temperature contrasts, signalling the shift toward winter. 👀 Her...
11/04/2025

November is upon us, bringing less daylight and greater temperature contrasts, signalling the shift toward winter.

👀 Here's the temperature outlook for November. Check the map below to see whether temperatures in your region are expected to be below, near, or above average. 👇

➡️ Yellow to red: above average temperatures.
➡️ Blue: below average temperatures.
➡️ White: near average temperatures.

📷 Compared to the 30 months of November between the 1991-2020 period. This map shows the monthly average, not daily changes. There may be days when the difference from normal is larger or smaller than what is shown on the map.

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