Summary of Weather Winners

Highlights of Provincial/Territorial Weather Winners

• The top three provinces/territories for 21 popular weather categories.

Final Top Medal Standings

• Gold, silver and bronze medals for first, second and third place finishes and total number of medals in 70 weather categories.

• Of the 70 weather categories, about 30% were based on year-round weather, and the rest were seasonal -- about 25% winter conditions, 20% summer conditions, and 20% other seasons. In true Olympics fashion, of the 13 provinces and territories, there was one that could lay claim to the most firsts -- Nunavut! It placed first in 22 weather categories - you could say it won 22 gold medals out of a possible 70. Nova Scotia led the provinces with eleven gold firsts and Newfoundland and Labrador placed next with eight.

Top Province-Territory Weather Honours

• The winning province-territory in each of the 70 weather categories. For example, New Brunswick has the hottest summers averaging 23.28°C.

Canada-Wide Weighted-Average Values

• A Canada-wide average value for 56 weather categories computed by areally-weighting each province and territory. For example, Canada's total annual snowfall, averaged by area, is 201.0 cm.

Province-Territory With Most Comfortable Weather

• Based on a selection of 24 weather categories describing comfort, including the mildest winter, spring and fall; the most sunshine; the fewest hours of fog; less smoke and haze; the lightest winds; the lowest humidity, etc. points were assigned to the jurisdictions placing in the top seven of each "comfort" weather category. The province/territory with the greatest number of aggregate points is deemed to have the most agreeable climate.

• Province-wide, Alberta has the most comfortable climate in Canada.

Province-Territory With Toughest Weather

• Based on a selection of 26 extreme weather categories, e.g., the coldest, wettest, windiest, etc., points were assigned to the jurisdictions placing in the top seven of each grouping. The province/territory with the greatest number of aggregate points had the toughest weather.

• Nunavut was tops for the toughest weather, followed by Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Province-Territory for All Seasons

• To sample the many dimensions of the Canadian climate, an analysis was made of which province and territory featured a little bit of almost every Canadian weather condition, i.e., nearest to the average for most weather categories. In other words, which province or territory best exemplified the typical Canadian climate with lots of weather variety year-round, but with relatively few extremes. In the end, Ontario can boast being the province with the most quintessential Canadian weather. It is nearest to the average, followed closely by Manitoba.