THE CLIMATE OF TORONTO 
the 14th, 1901, and the lowest —21° on the 21st, 
1871. 
January and February have much the same mean 
temperature. February, 1875, was the coldest 
month on record, with a mean temperature of 10°.2. 
On fourteen consecutive days the temperature fell 
below zero, with an absolute minimum of 16 below; 
the mean minimum of the month was —0°.6. 
Other notably cold months were January, 1866, with 
mean temperature of 16°; January, 1857, 12°.7; 
January, 1875, 16°.1; January, 1884, 16°.0; Feb- 
ruary, 1885, 11°.1; January, 1893, 14°.7; January, 
1904, 16°.0, and January, 1912, 13°.9. 
The normal annual snowfall in Toronto is 65 
inches. A few flurries usually occur in November, 
and occasionally several inches may fall, but it is 
not until December that the ground becomes snow- 
covered, and this, as a rule, not until well on in 
the month; there is not sleighing at Christmas in 
more than one year in five, and in many winters the 
ground is bare during Christmas week. During 
January and February there is usually sleighing, 
but towards the end of February the snow melts 
fast, and it is only occasionally that the surrounding 
country is snow-covered into March. Heavy snow- 
falls have occurred in some years in March, but these 
are the exception rather than the rule, and an old 
and very prevalent idea that a heavy snowstorm 
usually occurs about March 17th is not borne out 
by the records. The heaviest snowfall on record is 
16 inches, and this has occurred on several occasions. 
89 
