It’s a dark time, Toronto.

Since the beginning of January, the city has seen less than 50 hours of sunlight in an exceptionally dark and grey month.

As of Sunday, the city has only seen 48.8 hours of sunlight, compared to the seasonal average of 85 hours for the month of January, Environment Canada meteorologist Mark Schuster said.

“We’ve been in well below normal averages for sunlight,” Schuster said.

Monday’s sunny conditions raised the hours of sunlight during the month, but the month is still projected to be “absolutely” darker than usual, Schuster said.

The majority of the sunshine came in the first two weeks of the month, but was quickly shrouded by grey clouds due to milder temperatures the last two weeks.

“When temperatures are warmer it tends to be cloudier due to moisture,” Schuster said.

With temperatures forecast drop closer to “typical” winter temperatures for February — highs of -2.3C and lows of -11C – Schuster says that Torontonians should be expecting more sunlight, as long as the chill stays.

“I think people prefer sunny and colder days to cloudy grey days,” he said. “It’s hard to get things done on those days.”

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