Rose Festival Parade Weather Welland, Ontario  1962 - 2010 compiled by Rob Paola Environment Canada meteorologist

The highlight of any Rose Festival is the annual parade that winds through the streets of Welland, an early summer tradition that will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this 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, in the past 49 years, 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 (43 out of 49) 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 49 parades has been 24C (75F), with an average low of 14C  
• The majority of parades have been held with temperatures of 25-30C (22 of 49 parades)  2 were cooler than 15C, and only 2 were held with temperatures of 30C or higher.  
• 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 during this decade have seen more variable weather, ranging from hot and muggy conditions in 2005 and 2007, to overcast and damp conditions in 2000 and 2002.  Perhaps this is a reflection of the more changeable and inconsistent weather patterns we seem to be getting more often these days, Welland's own little evidence of climate change?    

But whatever the weather, you can always count on the Rose Festival parade to brighten anyone's day!  Happy 50th anniversary to the Welland Rose festival parade!

The following table shows weather conditions for every Rose festival parade since 1962.

* Parade weather information is based on Welland and local area weather records from Westside Firehall weather station, as well as parade photos and newspaper accounts. 

For additional information on weather history in Welland, see History of the Welland climate station and the Blizzard of '77.