Is summer back? Or are we stuck with Augtober?

(Updated) Leading into this summer some weather experts were predicting warmer than normal temperatures. But anyone who’s spent any time outside recently knows, we haven’t come close to the kind of summer heat we usually expect in Southern Ontario.

“I feel ripped off… I never even got to the beach.”

if you blinked you might have missed it, the summer of 2014 is almost over. The signs are everywhere: patios are empty…

“We like the warm weather, we like the heat, we haven’t had it this summer…”

Bikers are keeping their hogs at home: “It’s not good for motorcycling. We are not thrilled.”

Back to school shopping has already reared its ugly head. And if that’s not enough, Starbucks has said that they are releasing their very seasonal pumpkin spice latte next week: one week earlier than normal.

Speaking of early, the fall-like temperatures were felt throughout the weekend with the low reaching single digits. But overall, this summer has been a colder one.

According to Environment Canada, we reached 30 degrees just once. last year, we got to that mark seven times.

Weather experts like Brett Anderson of AccuWeather are pointing the finger at a number of factors including that record-breaking cold winter: “The great lakes were certainly much colder with the ice hanging on for such a long time, especially for communities close to the lake.”

And the influx of rain: “when you have that much rainfall it forces the sun to work that much harder because it has to evaporate all the water on the ground, and that’s a cooling process”

Environment Canada says that the Hamilton area received over two and a half times more rain than last year.

So the summer wasn’t steaming hot, but it was comfortable. Hamilton’s medical officer of health said that the city issued just one heat advisory, whereas last year the area was under an advisory for five days in July.

And this summer was easier on the wallet. According to the Independent Electricity System Operator last summer saw peak consumption at just under 25,000 Mw. This year the peak was just over 21,000 Mw

But not all is lost: we could get some heat in October.

“We do think the warmer weather will be back in October, it will be quite pleasant.”