Climate
In 1847 George Warr, a guidebook writer for English emigrants to Canada derscribed the climate of Eastern Ontario as one of "great extremes". He also wrote, advising immigrants to Upper Canada that "seasons are as uncertain and fickle as the winds which precede them." He described our winters as "two months of snow, two months of hard frost, and two months of heavy weather." It was clear that George Warr was not particularly fond of our "miserable wilderness and so wretched a colony."
Seasonal changes in wind patterns are very pronounced in Ontario. This is why some climatologists consider our region to have one of the most variable climates in the world. If you don't like the weather, wait a minute!
Factors affecting climate: the sun, latitude, atmospheric motion, surface air masses, land and water, and topography.
Average Temperatures and Precipitation Levels
| Ottawa | Kingston | ||||||||
| Month | Mean Temperature | Mean Temperature | Mean Rainfall | Mean Rainfall | Sunshine | ||||
| °C | °F | °C | °F | (mm) | (in.) | (cm) | (in.) | Hours | |
| Jan | -11.0 | 12.2 | -8.0 | 17.6 | 28.2 | 0.7 | 45.6 | 18.0 | 99.1 |
| Feb | -8.0 | 17.6 | -7.0 | 19.4 | 31.5 | 0.8 | 34.9 | 13.7 | 119.1 |
| Mar | -2.0 | 28.4 | -1.4 | 29.5 | 46.8 | 1.2 | 27.9 | 11.0 | 144.7 |
| Apr | 6.0 | 43.0 | 5.6 | 42.1 | 70.5 | 1.8 | 8.3 | 3.3 | 186.5 |
| May | 14.0 | 57.2 | 11.7 | 53.1 | 78.1 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 221.2 |
| Jun | 18.5 | 65.0 | 16.5 | 61.7 | 75.2 | 1.9 | - | - | 239.4 |
| Jul | 21.0 | 70.0 | 20.3 | 68.5 | 60.3 | 1.5 | - | - | 283.5 |
| Aug | 19.0 | 66.0 | 19.5 | 67.1 | 83.0 | 2.1 | - | - | 248.9 |
| Sep | 12.5 | 54.5 | 15.2 | 59.4 | 92.7 | 2.4 | - | - | 167.0 |
| Oct | 7.0 | 45.0 | 8.8 | 47.8 | 88.0 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 145.5 |
| Nov | 1.6 | 35.0 | 3.0 | 37.4 | 83.7 | 2.1 | 12.4 | 4.9 | 84.1 |
| Dec | -9.0 | 15.8 | -4.3 | 24.3 | 53.4 | 1.4 | 51. | 20.4 | 72.8 |
Obtained from www.rideau-info.com
