A dry spring gave way to a wet June, but we may soon be back on track for just the kind of summer most of us appreciate.
“We have had our fair share of weather activity this month, what with the tornadoes, the heavy summer storms and high winds, but we don’t expect the upcoming months to be this wet,” Dave Phillips, senior climatologist for Environment Canada, said Tuesday.
Typically our region gets about 81 millimetres of rain in the month of June. This year, we had 130 mm fall in just the first 17 days. The 60 per cent increase could have been much worse for crops had April and May been wet as well, but Phillips notes that, after a dry May, the excess water might be just what the land needs.
“Precipitation was lower than usual in the spring – had it been much higher we would be seeing puddles everywhere right about now.”
That excess rainfall, capped by a terrific downpour last Sunday, led the Grand River Conservation Authority to issue a high-water safety bulletin. Recreational users were advised to take note of the changing river conditions. Rainfall and resultant runoff swelled the levels of rivers and creeks, causing the GRCA to increase discharges from some of the dams it operates.
Phillips expects the region, and much of southern Ontario, will experience warmer and drier conditions for the remainder of the summer, however.
“I feel uneasy talking about precipitation 90 days down the road though,” he noted. “It can be hard to predict the next day sometimes! But if we can make it through the month of storms and soakers, patio season may be upon us in full force before we know it.
“Our last two summers were wet and on the cool side. It looks like we might actually have a good season to get out the tent, or the beach towel and enjoy the outdoors.”
