David Phillips grew up in Windsor. He studied geography at the University of Windsor. Upon graduation in 1967, he began to work at the Meteorological Branch of Transport Canada to conduct research on the Great Lakes in Toronto. This work involved using climatological data to answer the questions of the users about climatic records : farmers asking for frost-free seasons or temperature trend, urban planners assessing the location for an airport or climatology the wind for tall-buildings and more general public queries.

During the course of his work, Dave Phillips produced reports that eventually were published in newspapers. One of them about a Climatic Severity Index, ranking of 150 locations in Canada for their most extreme weather, was commented on by Southam News in the 1980s and he was asked to go on television to talk about it. Since that time, he has become the official spokesman for Environment Canada Meteorological Service.

David Phillips is the recipient of the Patterson Medal for Distinguished Service to Meteorology in Canada, two Public Service Merit Awards, honorary doctorates from the University of Waterloo and Nipissing University, and the Order of Canada, and the author of three books The Climates Of Canada, Blame It On The Weather and The Day Niagara Falls Ran Dry and the creator of Canada’s most popular calendar, The Canadian Weather Trivia Calendar.