Aug. 20 marked the first time in nearly a quarter century that Ontario had two F2 tornadoes on a single day, one measure of what has been an above-average tornado season, says Environment Canada.

"The total number of tornadoes so far in Ontario this year now stands at 20. Ontario receives, on average, 11 tornadoes each year," said the agency's Jack Saunders in a news release on Tuesday.

The F2 is the Fujita Scale ranking for tornado strength. F2 tornados have wind speeds of between 181 and 252 kilometres per hour.

On May 31, 1985, the Barrie and Grand Valley tornadoes carved out a path of destruction. They were F4 tornadoes, meaning they had winds of 331 to 417 km/hr, capable of destroying even well-built homes.

Those two twisters left 12 people dead, but there were 13 tornadoes on the day.

Of the 11 confirmed or probable tornadoes from Aug. 20, only one death resulted -- 11-year-old Owen MacPherson. He died at a conservation area just north of Durham in Grey County, where he had been attending a day camp. Flying debris generated by the F2 twister struck him.

Another F2 twister damaged about 600 homes in Vaughan.

The total number was the biggest one-day tornado event since 17 occurred on Aug. 2, 2006, Saunders said.

"The spring and summer severe weather season is not yet over. It usually begins in late April and continues until early October."

Besides wild, August was also wet.

At Pearson International Airport, 144 millimetres of precipitation fell in August, the wettest August since 1992. A normal amount is 79.6 mm.

However, Red Lake in far northwest Ontario (about 100 kilometres slightly northeast of Kenora) wins the most-drenched award.

Pickle Lake, about 160 kilometres east of Red Lake, got slightly more precipitation in August -- 167.6 mm vs. 166.2 mm. But Red Lake received 485.7 mmm of rain from June to August, eclipsing 2000's 472.3 mm.

"Local residents struggled to save their homes and fought back rising water levels with sandbags," Saunders said.

Temperature-wise, August was an unremarkable month. No stations reported either unusually warm or cold monthly averages.

Toronto had its warmest day of 2009 on Aug. 17, reaching 31.2 degrees Celsius.