Your Canada Day weekend forecast holds a mix of gloom and fantastic days
Rainy skies or a grand evening for fireworks? Your Canada Day long weekend forecast features a little bit of everything
Whether you have a big adventure planned or you’re just looking forward to some relaxing time with family and friends, all eyes are on the forecast as we head toward the Canada Day long weekend.
A lack of extreme warmth is the big news for the long weekend ahead. While nobody will have to sweat out a summer scorcher, some communities will have to contend with cooler conditions and occasional bouts of rain.
There’s also good news on the horizon for a couple of lucky spots across the country that’ll have prime conditions for fireworks and cookouts over the next couple of days.
As always, check your local bylaws and fire bans before using fireworks or starting any open fires. An open fire ban is in effect across sections of Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, as the province deals with ongoing blazes.
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Atlantic Canada
The East Coast is on track to see the country’s gloomiest weather this long weekend as an unsettled pattern makes itself at home across Atlantic Canada. In fact, this additional rainfall could push St. John’s to its wettest June on record.
A meandering trough will allow several disturbances to swing through the region, bringing rainy and stormy weather alongside below-seasonal temperatures for the latter part of the weekend.
Make the most of Saturday’s agreeable conditions as a ridge of high pressure parks just offshore.
Sunday will feature locally heavy rainfall and a risk for isolated thunderstorms for the Maritimes, including Halifax, as a disturbance arrives. The gloom persists into our Canada Day on Monday as spotty showers affect the Maritimes and more persistent unsettled weather swings over Newfoundland.
Fireworks: What’s the best day for fireworks? Saturday is undoubtedly your best bet if you want to catch some memorable fireworks across Atlantic Canada. The weather may not cooperate if you wait any longer.
Ontario and Quebec
Folks across Central Canada will see a front-loaded weekend with unsettled conditions to begin and pleasant weather in time for Canada Day proper.
Forecasters are confident in the arrival of showers and thunderstorms during the day Saturday. Ottawa and Montreal could deal with some residual showers and seasonably cool conditions spilling into Sunday, but the day will still see a big improvement over your Saturday.
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Northwestern Ontario will deal with sweater weather on Saturday as the coldest air in North America parks itself over the region. Cottage country will feel the spring-like chill by Sunday with temperatures remaining in the teens across the area.
Fear not, however: temperatures will rebound nicely by Canada Day as a ridge of high pressure builds over both provinces. Daytime highs on Monday will approach the mid-20s around the Greater Toronto Area.
Fireworks: Your best bet for favourable firework weather will arrive on Sunday and Monday once the unsettled weather clears out of the region to the east.
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The Prairies
Saturday is the winning day across the Prairies if you’re looking forward to some outdoor time this long weekend.
We’ll see a risk for thunderstorms bubble across Alberta on Sunday, threatening bumpy conditions around Calgary and Edmonton before things go downhill across the region for our Canada Day on Monday.
Unsettled weather will spread across the Prairies with the risk for downpours and more organized thunderstorms extending east toward Saskatoon, Regina, and Winnipeg.
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Northern sections of the Prairies will see the best conditions with drier and warmer conditions expected the farther north you go. Folks in northern Alberta could see temperatures as much as 10 degrees warmer than their companions to the south.
Fireworks: Saturday is absolutely your best bet if you’re looking for colourful fireworks. Manitobans might pull off some fireworks on Sunday, but anyone on the Prairies shouldn’t delay unless you’re on the hunt for a natural light show put on by nearby thunderstorms.
British Columbia
We’ll see a risk for showers build across the South Coast through early Saturday and again on Sunday, but the expected precipitation will hardly amount to a washout. A risk for thunderstorms will build across northern B.C. on Saturday before spreading over a wider area into the Interior by Sunday.
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Canada Day proper will see onshore flow dominating conditions across the South Coast, bringing a chance for showers to Metro Vancouver alongside temperatures running a few degrees below seasonal for the start of July.
Fireworks: It’s a tough call if you’re looking for the best day to take in some fireworks. Taking into account the ongoing risk for showers and clouds, the most favourable firework weather will possibly arrive by the latter half of the weekend.
Northern Canada
Congratulations are in order for Northern Canada as the region benefits from the country’s nicest weather during this long weekend.
Temperatures as much as a dozen degrees above normal will spread north of the 60th parallel this weekend, allowing some of Canada’s only 30-degree readings to occur in the Northwest Territories and northeastern B.C.
Fireworks: Conditions will be great for fireworks any time during the long weekend with no weather constraints in sight.
