February brings more sunshine for Southern Ontario News

If you think you've seen more sun in southern Ontario lately, you'd be wrong.

First, the days are getting longer. And both, in general, have had more sunshine lately.

“I've had a few neighbors notice that the days are getting longer, especially with the sunshine we've had the last couple of days,” Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson said in a Feb. 5 interview.

“We're seeing sunny hours extending into the evening before it starts to get dark. Thus, towards the end of the season, the days gradually lengthen until the official arrival of summer.

“So it was another psychological boost for people who said December and January were cloudy. We've seen a fair amount of sunshine recently, with sunshine lasting longer into the afternoon hours.”

But there's another bonus, which Coulson alluded to earlier this week in his story about the possible end of the mild weather — sunny days accompanied by unusually mild temperatures.

“From the end of January to February, when we do see sunshine, it's associated with a cold arctic air mass from the north of the country that brings dry, sunny air, but the price usually paid (is that) when the sunshine comes with cold air,” he explained. he is.

“That's why it's rare to get along here with a few days of sunshine and somewhat milder temperatures.”

As for long days, we've now broken the 10-hour barrier between sunrise and sunset. That happened on Sunday, February 4, when sunrise and sunset for Toronto were 7:31 a.m. and 5:32 p.m., respectively, according to timeanddate.com, which is 10 hours and one minute.

And the days, of course, continue to lengthen until the summer solstice on June 21, when timeanddate.com predicts 15 hours and 26 minutes between sunrise and sunset (5:36 a.m. to 9:02 p.m.).

In contrast, during the period around the winter solstice (December 21), daylight fell to less than nine hours between December 11, when it was exactly nine hours (sunrise at 7:40 a.m. and sunrise at 4:40 p.m.) through December. On the 31st, it was exactly nine hours again (between sunrise at 7:50 am and sunset at 4:50 pm).

The total between these two time periods was less than nine hours, but not more—five minutes at most.