Article content
Unlike many parts of Canada, London isn’t suffering from a lack of rainfall.
In fact, there is a trend of above-average monthly precipitation in the city this year, said Peter Kimbell, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
London’s rainfall “is a bit of an anomaly when you look at the whole of the country coast to coast last month,” he said, pointing to areas out west that are drier than usual and where forest fires are raging.
Article content
The London area received 155 millimetres of rain in July, nearly double the average of 83 millimetres, Kimbell said.
A storm dropped up to 75 millimetres of rain in some parts of the city on July 15, overwhelming storm sewers, transforming sections of streets into streams and resulting in more than 250 calls for service to city hall.
The deluge forced organizers to cancel the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival scheduled to be held July 19 to 21 at Harris Park. Citing heavy rains that caused significant flooding in the downtown park, organizers said it wouldn’t be safe to hold the event featuring big-name comics such as Nate Bargatze and Bill Burr.
Precipitation is trending above monthly averages in the London region in 2024, Kimbell said.
“The last month of below-average precipitation was February,” he said. “Since then, we’ve had above average precipitation, especially last month.”
London’s average rainfall for August is 83 millimetres.
The forecast for the Civic Holiday weekend shows a chance of showers on Saturday and Monday, with highs in the upper 20s C. Sunday is expected to be sunny with a high of 30 C.
More rain is the forecast for Tuesday. The temperature at night should dip to the low teens by midweek, a welcome break from a stretch of nights with lows above 20 C.
bwilliams@postmedia.com
@BrianWatLFPress
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada
Recommended from Editorial
Share this article in your social network
