Blue skies and colour abound!
There is little doubt as to whether you will like Niagara weather.
Of course, I write this article while most of North America is suffering a terrible drought (and Niagara is feeling the heat too), but things are better here than most places.
When Katie and I were looking for our permanent home, there were several factors that weighed in more heavily than the others – the weather was one of them.
Hey, it’s Canada, there is still some snow!
I have experienced enough weather variations to know what I didn’t want.
I grew up on the coast of New Brunswick and my winters included cold winds whipping off the Bay of Fundy leading to weeks of -30 to -40 degree wind chills. My 5 years in Phoenix were greeted by warm winters and over 300 days of sunshine, but no real seasons and a summer that would hover around 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit (44 Celsius) for days on end. During our 8 years in Vancouver, the relentless rain and clouds kept us depressed and soggy.
One of the real rewards of Niagara’s unique climate: wine grapes!
The climate here in Niagara is special.
We have 4 real seasons with lots of blue skies, our summers range between 21-25 degrees and have never exceeded 38 degrees C (100 degrees F), and the winters are traditionally mild (2 to -1 C). The springs and autumns are particularly stunning with mild temperatures (5 to 20 degrees) and a popular time to visit the area.
Gorgeous fall temperaturs and colours draw crowds to Niagara
The Niagara Region enjoys a microclimate that is the result of the Niagara escarpment in conjunction with Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. These are key components in supporting the diversity of this growing region and allowing Niagara to be so successful with crops that may not normally thrive this far north (such as peaches and varieties of grapes).
Beautiful falls colours along the Niagara Parkway
This year, like most regions in North America, we are suffering from a very hot and dry summer. Normally, Niagara enjoys a moderate amount of precipitation spread pretty evenly through the year.
The hot weather is a great excuse to get out on Lake Erie or Lake Ontario
We are in Canada so we do get snow, but considerably less than most parts of the country. The snow might fall as early as November and as late as April, but the bulk of it is between December and March and doesn’t usually exceed much more than a foot in any single month.
See, we get some winter days too – but I got to read a book sometime!
Regarding precipitation, it is rare for it to rain persistently throughout the day; usually the rain comes and is followed shortly by some sunshine. The same is true of snow in the winter; the winds might push it in towards shore (especially off of Lake Erie on the way to Buffalo) but aside from a couple of winter storms a season there is rarely excessive accumulation and usually most of it has been displaced or melted within a day or two.
I’m not bragging, but those are our tulips!
The thing we enjoy about life in Niagara compared to other places that we have lived is that it is pretty easy to live a life where you get out and interact with nature when the sky is typically blue and the weather is not chasing you back inside.
Two frogs enjoying a lazy day of sunshine by the pond.
The added bonus is that when you have these kind of conditions the plants and animals seem to love it to so every outdoor journey is filled with beauty and life!