After feeling like the 40s, is Ontario done with extreme heat?
Forecasters see a mixture of good and bad news in the extended forecast if you’re looking for relief from this summer’s humidity
Few clichés hold water like the old line that it’s not the heat that gets you—it’s the humidity.
Ontario has endured its fair share of mugginess so far this year, with Thursday coming in as one of this summer’s most humid days. The warmth and instability fuelled damaging storms across the province.
Now that we’re beyond this season’s midpoint, it’s not a bad time to ask: is the extreme heat finally behind us?
We won’t leave you in suspense—the answer is “maybe.” Another spell of humidity is on the way for next week, but August is looking to start on a cooler note.
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This month has seen above-seasonal temperatures for just about all of southern Ontario.
Toronto has seen high temperatures at or above 30°C on 14 occasions this year, with 10 of those occurring in July. For comparison, the city only saw 10 days with a high at or above 30°C in all of 2024.
Heat is only one part of the equation. Humidity is the make-or-break factor that can turn a warm summer’s day into an uncomfortable and potentially dangerous ordeal.
Thursday, July 24, felt like a sauna across southern Ontario. Feels-like values reached 45 in Windsor and 43 in both Toronto and Ottawa.
This wasn’t even the absolute muggiest weather of the year. That honour goes to a stretch of heat back in late June that pushed feels-like values up to 46 in Ottawa, 46 in Windsor, and 44 in Toronto.
Is this the end of the extreme heat? After all, July is the hottest month of the year across much of Canada, including southern Ontario. August is known for its bursts of heat, but it's possible that we’re running out the clock on beating those feels-like values from late June or this past Thursday.
Folks across the region can expect to see a return of heat and humidity heading into next week as a long-duration heat wave builds south of the border. Some areas in the U.S. could see a feels-like value of 45-50 through this weekend.
The heat ridge won’t last very long. Looking beyond, forecasters see a strong signal that temperatures will dip below seasonal across southern Ontario heading into the start of August. An amplified ridge over Western Canada will help direct doses of cooler air toward southern Ontario, helping to keep readings below-seasonal to open the new month.
Header image courtesy of Solomon Hoasjoe.