Toronto could set another rainfall record today

FILE - A person carries an umbrella during a downpour of rain in Toronto on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Alex Lupul

Toronto is on the verge of establishing yet another rainfall record today.

Environment Canada climatologist Dave Phillips said this month could go down as the wettest month in Toronto’s history if the thunderstorms in the forecast this afternoon bring just six more millimetres of rain.

Toronto has already seen 208 millimetres of rainfall so far in July, the wettest July on record.

“We are seeing a system coming in today,” Phillips told CP24 on Tuesday. “If it is a direct hit, we may get 10 to 20 mm of rain.”

Environment Canada is calling for a 60 per cent chance of showers this afternoon with a risk of a thunderstorm. Hot and humid conditions are continuing, with the national weather agency calling for a high of 28 C, feeling closer to 36 with the humidity.

CP24 Meteorologist Bill Coulter said active weather today will be triggered by “a low pressure system swirling by to the south.

“Today’s heat and humidity will be used as fuel for showers and thunderstorms,” Coulter said.

Showers may linger into the overnight hours.

A handful of intense weather systems this month have created record amounts of rainfall in Toronto for July.

On July 16, the city saw nearly 100 millimetres of rain in a short burst, leading to widespread flooding and power outages across Toronto. Parts of the Don Valley Parkway and Lake Shore Boulevard were shut down after flash floods completely washed out the roadways, stranding a number of motorists.

Phillips told CTV News last week that the city has already surpassed a previous rainfall record of 193 millimetres set back in 2008.

Now, Toronto is on track to beat another record. The wettest month ever recorded at Pearson International Airport was October 1954, when 213.9 millimetres fell.

“We only had eight days of rain in July up till now and we still broke a record,” Phillips said. “We might establish another record.”

With files from Miriam Katawazi