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Summary

This new winter forecast reveals when Canada's weather will become colder than normal

An "abrupt transition" to the start of winter is expected soon!

montreal street with parked cars under snow

Snow-covered cars and street in Montreal.

Senior Writer

A new winter forecast just dropped, and it hinted that colder-than-normal temperatures are on the way.

It also revealed when Canada's weather will go through an "abrupt transition" from fall to winter.

The Weather Network put out a sneak peek at the 2025-26 winter forecast that offered a glimpse of what's expected during the season.

There are "warning signs" that the mild pattern much of Canada is going through won't last through the end of autumn.

According to The Weather Network, "a rather abrupt transition" to the start of winter is expected during November.

The exact timing of when the shift to winter weather will happen is still uncertain.

But once the warm pattern breaks, it's expected that near-normal and even colder-than-normal temperatures will dominate.

Canada will feel the chill from those colder temperatures for much of December, according to The Weather Network.

If you're travelling in the weeks leading up to the holidays, you're being told to pay extra attention to forecasts because of that.

The Weather Network said that temperatures in December, January, and February will be near normal or colder than normal in most of Canada.

But parts of northwestern Canada and most of Atlantic Canada are the exceptions.

It's forecast that "high impact winter weather" will happen across the country, even in places with above seasonal temperatures.

The Weather Network revealed that below normal temperatures are expected for all of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, some parts of B.C., and most of Ontario and Quebec.

Temperatures will be near normal in western parts of B.C. (including Vancouver) and in southern Ontario (including Toronto and Ottawa).

Above seasonal temperatures are forecast in Nova Scotia, P.E.I., and parts of Newfoundland.

There will be "a significant stretch of milder weather" during the middle of winter in the southern parts of Canada.

That includes places where overall colder-than-normal temperatures are expected for the season.

When it comes to winter storms, the dominant storm track will be through the Great Lakes region in Ontario and up the St. Lawrence River to Quebec.

An active storm track is also expected to impact the B.C. coast at times.

If you want to know more about the season, the Old Farmer's Almanac and Farmers' Almanac have also released winter forecasts for Canada.

Those forecasts called for rain-snow mixes, snowstorms, blizzard conditions, "extreme cold" from the polar vortex, and more.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.

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    • Senior Writer

      Lisa Belmonte (she/her) is a Senior Writer with Narcity Media. After graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), she joined the Narcity team. Lisa covers news and notices from across the country from a Canada-wide perspective. Her early coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic earned Narcity its first-ever national journalism award nomination.

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