If it feels like this July never let up, that’s because it didn’t. Ottawa is closing out its rainiest month in more than 150 years of weather data collection, capping off a stretch defined by rolling storms, flash flooding, and more umbrella runs than anyone signed up for this summer.
A Record Well Over a Century in the Making As of Tuesday, about 260 millimetres of rain had fallen at the Ottawa International Airport, with roughly 64 millimetres of that arriving over just Monday and Tuesday alone. That total pushed the city past its previous monthly rainfall record of 250.2 millimetres, set all the way back in 1899, with Ottawa’s weather records stretching back to 1873. Environment Canada warning preparedness meteorologist Peter Kimbell noted that most of that late-month rain had already fallen by Tuesday morning, including 26.2 millimetres on Monday and another 28 millimetres measured at the airport Wednesday morning.
A Month That Started with a Splash The record didn’t creep up quietly. The month kicked off with the July 1 storms and flash floods that dropped 118 millimetres of rain at the airport in a single day, an early sign of just how relentless the month would turn out to be. Even with totals climbing throughout July, none of eastern Ontario’s six conservation authorities issued a flood alert over the latest round of storms. Cataraqui Conservation, in the Kingston area, has had a flood outlook in place since May along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence, reflecting some risk from waves and storm surges, though the rest of the region has largely avoided formal flood warnings despite the record-breaking totals. A severe thunderstorm watch was also in effect for western Quebec into Tuesday evening.
A Wetter Corner of the Region Not every part of the area saw the same coverage. Deep River and eastern Algonquin Park fell outside the special weather statement issued for most of eastern Ontario, a reminder of just how localized these summer storm systems can be, even when the totals downtown are breaking records.
Looking Ahead After a month like this, it’s safe to say Ottawans have earned a stretch of sunshine. Whether August delivers on that front remains to be seen, but for now, the record books have officially been rewritten.
