Cold Start to October for Ontario With Below Freezing Temperatures and the Potential for the Season’s First Snowfall in Some Areas

While September has been relatively mild across Ontario, the same won’t be true for at least the beginning of October as we expect temperatures to plunge towards the freezing mark with even the potential for some flurries. We expect a push of cold air to start to invade Northwestern Ontario early Thursday morning pushing temperatures into the low single digits for all of Northern Ontario and below zero for locations like Sandy Lake and Fort Severn. Across much of Far Northern Ontario north of a line from Sandy Lake to Fort Albany, there is the chance for some light snow early Thursday. Although limited accumulation is expected and most of it will likely melt quickly.

As we head into Friday, the cold temperatures will only progress further to the south and east with below-freezing temperatures reaching as far south as Elliot Lake. The rest of Northeastern Ontario such as Sudbury and North Bay will be just barely above the freezing mark by sunrise of Friday. Precipitation is also expected across this region so widespread light flurries are very likely especially the further north and west you go. Some areas may even pick up a few centimetres of accumulation on the ground. The cold temperatures and threat of snow will continue into the weekend.

Now for Southern Ontario, mild temperatures will continue for the first few days of October with daytime highs in the upper single-digit or lower double digits. That will change starting this weekend as we expect the colder air from Northern Ontario will start to flow into Central and Eastern Ontario. Expect near-freezing temperatures on Saturday and Sunday morning. It’s still several days away, but we are also seeing the chance of some scattered flurries in higher elevations through Northern Muskoka and into Algonquin Park. Although this may change as we get closer. Stay tuned as we’ll release a more detailed forecast on that in the coming days.