You may never guess which Canadian city hit 30 C first this year

Nathan Howes and Rachel ModestinoDigital Reporter and Meteorologist

Published on May. 11, 2022, 12:00 PM

Canada's first coveted 30-degree temperature in 2022 has been recorded, and the location that hit it may surprise you.

You may be inclined to pick one of Canada's warmest cities as the first to record a 30-degree day this year.

Areas such as Windsor, Ont., or a southern prairie city such as Regina, Sask. or Lethbridge, Alta., come to mind. Or how about last year's race winner to the 30-degree mark, Lytton, B.C.?

However, Canadians may be surprised to learn the answer is none of those cities. In fact, it lies north...in Ontario's Far North. The winner of this year's race to 30 goes to Moosonee, located in northern Ontario. It hit 30.2°C on Tuesday.

Also of note is another community in the northern Ontario region, Kapuskasing, was a close second this year -- scoring a daytime high of 30.1°C on the same day.

According to the provincial government, the Far North covers 42 per cent of Ontario’s land mass. About three times the size of Lake Superior, it stretches from Manitoba in the West to James Bay and Quebec in the east -- with Moosonee sandwiched in there, as well.

What you may find surprising is that a community such as Moosonee is far likelier to hit the 30-degree mark first than a major centre such as Toronto or Halifax, N.S.

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Why is that? Simple geography. Moosonee is away from the cooling influence of the water, something Toronto and Halifax have to constantly contend with.

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To highlight that fact even further, Toronto finally reached its first 20-degree temperature this spring on Tuesday while Moosonee grabbed the country's first 30°C reading.

Another interesting fact from Tuesday: Bancroft, Ont., started out at the freezing mark in the morning and peaked at 24°C during the day.

In 2021, the first 30°C temperatures in Canada in 2021 went to Lytton (30.7°C) and Ashcroft (30.2°C), B.C., recorded on May 15.

With files from Michael Carter, a meteorologist at The Weather Network, and Patrick Duplessis, a meteorologist at MétéoMédia.