A 2023 weather summary for Waterloo Region

The Eric D. Soulis Memorial Weather Station at the University of Waterloo has released its weather records for 2023.

However, 365 days of 24/7 weather records might be a lot of information to sift through. Fortunately, the E.D Soulis Weather Station’s summary breaks down the highlights from last year.

It was the fourth hottest year on average at a temperature of just under 8.9 C. The weather station has over 100 years of data on Waterloo Region weather. The warmest year was 2012, about half a degree warmer on average (9.32 C).

One of the most notable records broken happened just a few weeks ago. 2023 had the second hottest December at four degrees above average and the low for the month was -6.9 C on Dec. 13. That is the warmest low for December in the history of the records.

There was another record in April, when the UW Weather Station recorded the temperature above 28 degreed on Apr. 13. That is the earliest date the temparature has ever exceeded 28 degrees in Waterloo Region.

The hottest day of the year came during a month not necessarily tied to summer heat. It was 32 C on Sep. 5. That day helped make 2023’s September the warmest in five years.

As for the chilliest day, that was Feb. 3, when it was about -20 C, feeling like -35 C with the coldest wind chill of the year as well.

It was an interesting year for precipitation as well as Waterloo Region had the wettest month in 10 years this past July, but September was also the fourth driest month in history, and the driest since 1969, with only 18 mm of precipitation.

Meanwhile, 35.6 cm of snow alone fell on Feb. 9, the most of any day in 2023.

You can read the full 2023 weather summary from the E.D. Soulis Weather Station here.