Compiled by Rob Paola, Environment Canada Meteorologist
The highlight of any Rose Festival is the annual grand parade that winds through the streets of Welland, an early summer tradition that celebrated its 50th anniversary on June 19th 2011.
Since the inaugural parade in 1962, parade organizers, participants and onlookers have experienced all sorts of weather on route, from cold damp conditions to searing heat. Generally though, the Rose Festival parade has been blessed with fine summerlike weather.. with afternoon highs averaging a comfortable 24C.
Since 1962, only 6 parades have had rain during the 2 hour event, and three of those were just sprinkles. The vast majority have been rain free although some parade days have had rain before or after the parade. And even though summer often brings thunderstorms to Southern Ontario, only one Rose festival parade has been interrupted due to a thunderstorm. That was back on July 3rd, 1965 when a 30-minute deluge at the start of the parade dropped 22 mm of rain on the proceedings and threatened to postpone the event. The parade went on however, minus a few bands that could not play due to wet instruments.
A look at the weather history of the parade since 1962 reveals other interesting weather facts..
- The first parade, June 23 1962, was held under ideal conditions.. sunshine and warm temperatures with a high of 26.7C (80F)
- The hottest parade.. July 2 1966 with a sweltering high of 34C (93F), and a humidex near 40. St John’s ambulance treated several people that day for heat exhaustion
- The coldest parade.. June 21 1992 with a high of only 11C under overcast skies, it felt more like April than late June. Appropriately, this weekend marked the start of one of the coolest and wettest summers on record in Southern Ontario.. the infamous “year without a summer” caused by the lingering effects of the Mt Pinatubo volcanic eruption the year before
- Average daily high over the past 54 parades has been 24C (75F), with an average low of 14C
- The majority of parades have been held with temperatures of 25-29C (26 of 54 parades). 8 were cooler than 20C while 5 have been held with temperatures of 30C or higher (4 of those since 2005)
- The parades of the 1970s were generally the coolest, with an average high of only 21C. Only one parade that decade was held in temperatures above 25C (1976).
- The parades of the 1980s were generally the sunniest and warmest with an average high of almost 26C and 6 of 10 held in bright sunshine
- Most recently, the parades of the past 5 years have featured ideal summerlike conditions with warm temperatures of 25C or more and no rain.
The following table shows weather conditions for every Rose Festival parade since 1962.
| YEAR | DATE | HIGH (C) | LOW(C) | PARADE WEATHER * |
| 1962 | JUN 23 | 26.7 | 18.3 | SUNNY WITH CLOUDY PERIODS, WARM |
| 1963 | JUN 22 | 23.3 | 6.7 | MIX OF SUN AND CLOUD |
| 1964 | JUN 27 | 25.6 | 17.8 | SUNNY, WARM, IDEAL WEATHER |
| 1965 | JUL 3 | 24.4 | 17.2 | heavy downpour at start of parade (22 mm) then clearing |
| 1966 | JUL 2 | 33.9 | 17.2 | sunny, hottest parade on record |
| 1967 | JUN 24 | 28.9 | 16.7 | sunny, clear, warm |
| 1968 | JUN 22 | 21.7 | 13.9 | cloudy, cool |
| 1969 | JUL 5 | 26.5 | 19.4 | mix sun and clouds, warm |
| 1970 | JUN 27 | 21.7 | 12.2 | clouds and sun, cool |
| 1971 | JUN 26 | 23.9 | 15.0 | clouds giving way to sun |
| 1972 | JUN 24 | 16.1 | 11.1 | overcast, cool, a few sprinkles |
| 1973 | JUN 23 | 23.9 | 15.6 | mix of sun and cloud |
| 1974 | JUN 24 ? | 20.6 | 11.7 | sunny with cloudy periods, cool |
| 1975 | JUN 7 | 18.9 | 11.1 | clouds and sun, cool |
| 1976 | JUN 26 | 26.1 | 15.0 | sunny and warm |
| 1977 | JUN 25 | 23.0 | 18.0 | partly sunny after heavy morning tstorms (46 mm) |
| 1978 | JUN 24 | 23.5 | 11.0 | partly cloudy and pleasant |
| 1979 | JUN 23 | 14.5 | 9.5 | overcast, breezy, chilly |
| 1980 | JUN 21 | 23.0 | 10.0 | sunny to cloudy, mild |
| 1981 | JUN 6 | 26.0 | 18.0 | sunny, windy, warm |
| 1982 | JUN 12 | 22.0 | 11.5 | mostly cloudy |
| 1983 | JUN 18 | 27.5 | 14.5 | sunny and warm |
| 1984 | JUN 16 | 24.0 | 12.0 | sunny, clear, ideal weather |
| 1985 | JUN 23 | 27.0 | 15.0 | sunny, clear and warm (first Sunday parade) |
| 1986 | JUN 22 | 28.0 | 13.0 | sunny, warm |
| 1987 | JUN 21 | 26.0 | 16.0 | mostly cloudy, hazy, warm |
| 1988 | JUN 19 | 29.0 | 11.0 | sunny, hazy, hot |
| 1989 | JUN 18 | 24.0 | 12.5 | partly sunny, breezy |
| 1990 | JUN 24 | 15.5 | 11.0 | overcast, breezy, cool, some drizzle at times |
| 1991 | JUN 23 | 24.0 | 13.5 | sunny, ideal weather |
| 1992 | JUN 21 | 11.0 | 6.0 | overcast, record cold, patchy drizzle |
| 1993 | JUN 20 | 28.0 | 18.5 | cloudy, hazy, humid |
| 1994 | JUN 19 | 29.0 | 20.5 | mainly sunny, warm (high of 34.5 on Sat Jun 18) |
| 1995 | JUN 18 | 29.0 | 17.0 | sunny, warm |
| 1996 | JUN 23 | 21.5 | 10.0 | mix sun and clouds |
| 1997 | JUN 21 | 28.0 | 18.0 | partly sunny, breezy, warm |
| 1998 | JUN 20 | 29.0 | 18.5 | sunny with a few clouds, warm |
| 1999 | JUN 19 | 25.0 | 10.0 | partly sunny, dry, comfortable |
| 2000 | JUN 18 | 15.0 | 10.0 | overcast, cool, a few showers (parade temp ~ 11c) |
| 2001 | JUN 17 | 26.0 | 15.0 | sunny, warm, ideal |
| 2002 | JUN 16 | 18.0 | 12.5 | overcast, cool, light rain (2 mm) |
| 2003 | JUN 15 | 25.0 | 11.0 | ideal weather, sunny, low humidity, light breeze |
| 2004 | JUN 13 | 27.0 | 15.0 | some midday sprinkles otherwise overcast, humid, parade temp ~ 22C |
| 2005 | JUN 12 | 30.5 | 22.0 | morning showers then hazy, hot and muggy, humidex 38C |
| 2006 | JUN 11 | 19.5 | 6.0 | sunny with cloudy periods, cool |
| 2007 | JUN 17 | 30.0 | 17.0 | clouds and hazy sun, hot |
| 2008 | JUN 15 | 27.5 | 15.0 | sunny and warm, southwest breeze |
| 2009 | JUN 21 | 27.0 | 14.0 | Partly sunny and warm |
| 2010 | JUN 13 | 22.0 | 16.5 | overcast |
| 2011 | JUN 19 | 24.7 | 14.9 | ** 50th anniversary parade **
ideal weather, sunny, low humidity, light breeze |
| 2012 | JUN 24 | 24.1 | 14.3 | cloudy |
| 2013 | JUN 23 | 30.2 | 20.1 | mainly sunny and hot, humidex 35C |
| 2014 | JUN 22 | 27.0 | 12.0 | sunny and warm, light winds and low humidity |
| 2015 | JUN 21 | 26.2 | 15.7 | clouds giving way to sun, warm and humid, light wind |
| 2016 | JUN 26 | 31.0 | 16.3 | mainly sunny, BREEZY and hot, humidex 34C |
* Parade weather information is based on Welland and local area weather records from Westside Firehall weather station, Welland airport data, as well as parade photos and newspaper accounts. For additional information on weather history in Welland, see History of the Welland climate station.
