Toronto Weather Today

How to read the Toronto forecast

A good forecast is really three views at once. The current panel tells you what it feels like outside right now, which matters most in a city where wind off Lake Ontario can make a mild-looking number feel much colder. The hourly strip is for planning the rest of your day: when a squall might roll through, when the wind eases, when it is warm enough to sit on a patio. The seven-day outlook is for the week ahead, and in Toronto it is most reliable for the first three or four days — after that, systems crossing the Great Lakes can still shift track. Read it top to bottom and you will almost always have what you need to plan around the city's four distinct seasons.

Toronto weather and the Great Lakes

Toronto's weather is shaped by its position on the north shore of Lake Ontario, part of a humid continental climate that swings between genuinely cold winters and warm, humid summers. The lake moderates temperatures near the waterfront, keeping spring cooler and autumn milder downtown than in the inland suburbs, and it fuels lake-effect snow squalls when cold air sweeps across the open water in late autumn and early winter. Winds off the lake also shape the city's notorious wind chill: a still, sunny -5°C day downtown can feel far colder along the waterfront when the lake breeze picks up.

What to expect from a Toronto winter

Toronto winters run roughly from late November to March, with average daytime highs hovering around freezing and overnight lows regularly dropping well below it. Snowfall is often erratic rather than constant — long dry cold snaps punctuated by sudden lake-effect squalls that can dump several centimetres in an afternoon. Wind chill is the number that matters most for safety: at -25°C wind chill or below, exposed skin can experience frostbite within minutes, which is why the hourly forecast here always surfaces both the air temperature and how it actually feels.

The best time to visit Toronto

Late June through September is the most reliable stretch for warm, dry days, with average highs in the mid-20s and long daylight hours that suit the waterfront, the Toronto Islands and the city's many outdoor festivals. September and early October bring a second sweet spot: cooler, crisper air, fewer crowds and some of the best fall colour in Ontario along the ravines and ferry rides to the islands. Spring (April to May) is changeable and often wet, with temperatures swinging widely week to week, while winter (December to March) suits visitors who want skating rinks, holiday markets and snow rather than sunshine. For a full month-by-month breakdown, see our guide to the best time to visit Toronto.

Read the month-by-month guide →

Toronto's historic weather extremes

Toronto's official record high is 40.6°C, set during the brutal heat wave of July 1936, one of the deadliest in Canadian history. At the other end, the coldest recorded temperature in the city sits around -32.8°C. The most infamous single event remains the January 1999 snowstorm, when repeated system after system dumped over 100cm of snow in a matter of days, prompting the mayor to call in the Canadian Armed Forces to help clear the city — a decision that became a lasting piece of local folklore. Lake-effect squalls off Lake Ontario still occasionally produce whiteout conditions in the city's east end even when downtown stays clear.