A warmer, dryer fall ahead for Ottawa and the Valley: Environment Canada

After a warmer-than-average September, Environment Canada is predicting a fall season that's also on the warm side, compared to previous years. 

Senior Climatologist David Phillips says the conditions for taking in the fall scenery should be pretty much perfect.

“It's almost like a frame around that perfect picture,” Phillips told CityNews' The Sam Laprade Show on Thursday. “If you've got a blue sky and white puffy clouds, and you can see all those tepid blazes of colour in the Ottawa Valley and the Laurentians — Oh my gosh, it's why we live here.”

Phillips says sweater weather isn't here yet, but Ottawa can expect more of that as we get into October. He's anticipating there will be frost on pumpkins on Halloween, and potentially even some snowfall ahead of that.

However, Phillips reassures, that doesn't signal the end of warmer weather for the season.

“Just because you get a little sneak wintry-like look, doesn't mean that summery weather is over — that's the way nature is,” he explained.

Any snow encountered ahead of mid-November, he adds, isn't likely to last, since the ground will be too warm to sustain any snow at that point.