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London recorded its rainiest July ever last month. But its not likely to get its rainiest summer vacation ever.
While parts of Ontario are experiencing heavy rain, the intense, heavy downpours that struck London last month have slowed so far in August, and the city is unlikely to break this month’s rainfall record, according to Environment Canada:
- 15.3 millimetres hit the city on Sunday, for an August total so far of 58.7mm
- The long-term average for London in August is 66.9mm
- The city’s August record, 226.9mm, set in 1964, is likely out of reach with sunshine expected for at least one of the final two weeks of the month
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“We could get some pretty strong thunderstorms capable of producing lots of rainfall, but it’s a little too early to say,” Geoff Coulson, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said on Monday, adding it would take “a lot of rain” to break the 1964-set record.
A regular rainfall amounts to five to 10mm, a soaking rain brings 15mm or more.
June was hit with 137mm of rain in London, and that was a “wetter-than-normal month,” Coulson said. July was record-breaking, with 210mm smashing the local rainfall record for the month, 204.6mm, set in 1992.
London’s biggest single rainfall day this year was July 15, when the tail-end of Hurricane Beryl delivered 59.3mm, beating the 1996 record for that date. The 44.7mm on July 16 also set a record for that date, beating the 43mm from 1988.
“This has been the summer of single-day heavy rainfall in some parts of southern and Southwestern Ontario,” Coulson said.
September is still a few weeks away, but the single wettest day in that month was 89mm on Sept. 9, 1996.
As for this week, Londoners can likely stow away their umbrellas: The national weather agency is calling for straight sunshine right into early next week, with daytime highs hovering between 24 C and 29 C.
Daytime highs in the low 20s C will almost certainly continue once school resumes in September, Coulson noted. “So overall, there is still some summer left to go.”
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