The calendar says it's October but on the 'Ontario Riviera,' it's still hot

When Maria Sarmiento came to Port Stanley beach in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving last year, she was driven back by the cold.

The winds, fairly typical for October, were whipping off Lake Erie. The scenery was spectacular, but the conditions not favourable for a long walk on the water's edge.

"Last year I was covered up, feeling chilly and we could only stand on the beach for five minutes, then run back to the car because it was too cold," she said.

What a difference a year makes.

On Friday Sarmiento and her family came to the beach wearing swimsuits, not sweaters. They sat in lawn chairs, and instead of being driven back from the water by icy winds, the summer-like heat had them weighing whether or not to take a dip.

"This year we can stay here all day," she said.

An unseasonably warm fall drove Friday's high into the high 20s, and those temperatures are expected to continue through to Monday.

Environment Canada meteorologist Trudy Kidd said normal daytime highs for this time of year in southwestern Ontario typically hover in the 17 C range.

However this year, a high-pressure system is sitting over the U.S. eastern seaboard, pushing warm air up north.

"We're also going to see clear skies, and that's going to allow the sun to pack a punch during the day and make this stretch of heat feel more like mid-summer than early fall," she said.

She said while it's certainly warmer than normal for this time of year, it's not unheard of and temperature records for this weekend are unlikely to fall.

Still, the beach on Friday was full of visitors reclining on beach blankets, not bundled up in windbreakers.

Among them was Pauline Cormier, Melissa Sparling and Rachelle Howie. The three coworkers booked the day off work together from a local care home to soak up the sunshine.

"I'll take any sunny day," said Sparling. "It's nice because the humidity is not high and you have this beautiful breeze, so that heat that I'm feeling is so nice. Usually in October you're going pumpkin picking, apple picking all that stuff and you're looking for your sweater. Right now, I'm wearing a tube top and shorts. I couldn't be happier."

Garry Curtis, shirtless, barefoot and dressed in shorts, strolled along the shore with his dog Muddy.

"We're pretty blessed here," said Curtis. "Look at where we are. This is the Ontario Riviera. I moved down here because of the shore. It's my happy place."

Paige Tupper manages Shaw's Ice Cream on Sunset Drive. She said business has been brisk at Shaw's, mainly because the weather wasn't.

"It's been lines and nice busy days for us," she said. "Not typical at all, but it's nice that it's stretched out the season a bit."

Jen DeBackere of DeBackere Farm Market said while some produce — pumpkins and potatoes for example — are negatively affected by the heat, overall it's good for business.

"It's great for bringing customers in because they're out and about and stopping," she said. "It's great for our sweet corn, it's still going strong and the rest of our crops are doing well."

Temperatures are expected to cool down by the middle of the week, though Monday's forecast is again calling for temperatures with high 20s.

"We expect those temperatures to decline and return back to normal," she said. "For Wednesday and Thursday, we're near normal again."