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Vancouver's renown as a warm(er) Canadian city is really related to the (relative) lack of winter cold there. People don't think of the summer because nice summers are generally a given in most parts of Canada. Mild winters are not.
Vancouver's winter is still pretty cold to many people from other countries. It is warm only in the Canadian context. It snows regularly, and temperature dips below -5 frequently and -10C sometimes. That is by no means a warm winter. There are plenty of cities in the world where it is seldom below 10C.
In the US for example Seattle is famous for its rainy or cloudy winters, but never famous for having warm winters. To say Vancouver's winters are warm is simply wrong.
It depends what you mean by 'warm'. If you mean warmest mean temperature, it would probably be Victoria, which I believe has a mean temperature somewhere around 11-12C (Windsor is probably about 6-8C), but the reality is I would still say Victoria is a 'colder' place than Windsor overall, because it has very little in the way of a summer.
The part of Canada that gets the hottest temperatures would be the interior of BC, or maybe Palliser's Triangle where Saskatchewan, Alberta and Montana meet, but their winters are much colder than coastal BC's.
Another major difference between the two cities is that Windsor is the thunderstorm capital of Canada while Vancouver rarely sees them. Windsor is prone to intense random storms during summer afternoons, especially when a slight lake breeze from Lake St. Clair interacts with the hot, humid air.
Vancouver has a mean temperature of 51.8F, Windsor has a mean of 49F. They are overall, similar in terms of warmness, but Vancouver is better if you hate heat, and Windsor better if you hate cold. They're both on the chilly side though, I think the world mean temp is like 57F or something like that.
Kind of amazing when you think in most of the US people think of Detroit as having a totally crappy climate and Seattle isn't exactly looked on desirably either. It just shows how when it comes to weather everything is relative.
Kind of amazing when you think in most of the US people think of Detroit as having a totally crappy climate and Seattle isn't exactly looked on desirably either. It just shows how when it comes to weather everything is relative.
yes, just ignore it when Canadians say Vancouver is “warm†or Toronto is "mild". Both have pretty crappy weather in general. Canadians tend to assume everyone is from Siberia.
mild means non-extreme. doesn't necessarily mean "warm".
In that sense, it is pretty accurate to say Vancouver is the mildest city in Canada. well at least one of them.
Nobody says Vancouver has the best weather in Canada (it doesn't). But you can't deny it is mild. For example today, Windsor is something around 28C, while Vancouver is below 20C.
In terms of actual temperature that is technically true, but I would argue that southern Ontario feels warmer on the whole than Vancouver does. 5C and rainy in my opinion feels in its own way every bit as cold as -5 with powdery snow, and the worst feeling cold is actually when it's 2-3C with slushy snow and wet wind, which is common place during Vancouver winter. Not to mention Southern Ontario summers are a good 3C/10F warmer than Lower Mainland summers and much more humid and reliably warm.
In terms of actual temperature that is technically true, but I would argue that southern Ontario feels warmer on the whole than Vancouver does. 5C and rainy in my opinion feels in its own way every bit as cold as -5 with powdery snow, and the worst feeling cold is actually when it's 2-3C with slushy snow and wet wind, which is common place during Vancouver winter. Not to mention Southern Ontario summers are a good 3C/10F warmer than Lower Mainland summers and much more humid and reliably warm.
True. I was in Vancouver one day when it was slightly above zero maybe two or three but really damp, and it felt more like -5C on a typical Toronto winter day. In Toronto, you never need many layers. Some light clothes and a warm down jacket and you are fine. In damp winter, the chill creeps into your bones despite the seemingly "mild" temperature.
Southern Ontario summers are more than 3C than Vancouver. Maybe 5C higher than average. Vancouver basically doesn't have a real summer (extended period where high temp more than 25C).
The average temperature last July in Toronto was 31C! 2012 is on track to be around the same. Summers are traditionally very warm in Southern Ontario.
To put it into perspective, I live an hour NORTH of Toronto and so far in 2012 our local weather station has recorded 44 days warmer than 25C (77F or warmer). This is as of July 9th with under 3 weeks into summer so far. Out of those 44 days, approximately 18 of them were over 30C (86F). These numbers will continue to grow over the next 90 days with plenty more warm weather to come. Summers in Southern Ontario are very reliable and warm especially down in Windsor. The Great Lakes make it humid which adds to the intensity of the heat.
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