Toronto vs. Montreal: Who will win this fierce wintry contest?
This winter has seen a close competition between the country’s two largest cities. Toronto and Montreal are neck and neck when it comes to seasonal snowfall totals. Montreal almost always beats Toronto at the end of the winter, but Toronto is winning this frigid race against overwhelming odds.
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It’s been a productive winter across southern Ontario as one winter storm after another slowly allowed Toronto to gradually overtake Montreal in the snow department.
The blizzard on January 17th vaulted the airport well above seasonal, and three additional snowfalls only served to pad the steep totals. Toronto has seen about 160 cm of snow this winter, which is well above the seasonal average of about 109 cm. There’s still time left for additional systems to pile on some more.
It’s been a slower-than-normal winter over in Montreal, where the city has recorded about 156 cm of snow so far this season. Many of this winter’s biggest storms avoided southern Quebec, cutting west into Ontario or east into the Atlantic provinces. It would be a tall order for Montreal to come close to its yearly average of about 210 cm this season.
The historical odds are in Montreal’s favour to come out on top when the season’s last snowflake falls. But it’s still quite remarkable that we’ve reached the middle of March with Toronto ahead in its seasonal snowfall totals.
Montreal averages 100 cm more snow than Toronto in a typical winter. Since the 1940s, Toronto has only exceeded Montreal’s seasonal snowfall twice—and only by a hair each time.
Watch the video above for more details on this wintry race between Toronto and Montreal.
