Toronto shatters record for the wettest summer season
Toronto has shattered records for the wettest summer season after a weekend of intense rain and windy weather.
Geoff Coulson, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, told CP24 on Monday that a record-breaking 128.3 millimetres of rain fell at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Saturday alone.
“[It was a] huge amount of rain. Pretty much double a month's worth of rain or more falling in the span of just a few hours on Saturday,” Coulson said.
“With Saturday's number added into the total for June, July and August, we've now shattered the season record at Pearson Airport.”
He went on to say that this June, July, and August are the “wettest” they’ve “ever had” at the airport.
In addition to the heavy rainfall on Saturday, Coulson said the region also saw heavy rainfall in July, which has been marked the wettest month ever at Pearson due to the several thunderstorms that took place and the remnants of Hurricane Beryl that moved through.
“And we still got some time left in the month of August to add to that total,” he added.
The previous record for summer rainfall stood at 396.2 millimetres, according to the national weather agency, but the airport has already seen 475.7 millimetres this season.
The weekend weather also saw a tornado hit the community of Ayr, Ont., according to Western University's Northern Tornadoes Project, which confirmed that the tornado touched down in the region, which is about an hour’s drive west of Toronto, at around 11 a.m. Saturday.
“The track wasn’t all that long about 5.2 kilometres long and about 230 wide at its widest point, but some of its damage was fairly significant,” Coulson said. “Structural damage to the roofs damage of some buildings, tree damage in some areas, as well as some empty rail cars that were tipped over. So a pretty significant event.”
He added that it was a bit unusual that the storm formed in the morning, when usually such storms form in the evening time.
“It was somewhat noteworthy for happening at around 10:40 in the morning on Saturday. Many of our damaging wind events and tornadoes tend to happen in the late afternoon or early evening. So that does make this event stand out somewhat,” Coulson said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Buy nothing': PSAC wants federal workers to boycott downtown Ottawa businesses
A union representing federal employees is asking its members to bring their own lunch to work, in an apparent retaliation against downtown Ottawa businesses as new return-to-office protocols begin.
Actions speak louder: What experts are saying about the body language in the U.S. presidential debate
The highly anticipated debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was a heated matchup. Here's what experts who analyzed the exchange had to say.
Jon Bon Jovi helps talk woman down from ledge on Nashville bridge
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jon Bon Jovi and a video production assistant persuaded a woman standing on the ledge of a pedestrian bridge in Nashville to come back over the railing to safety.
Inside a Manitoba ghost town, a group of ladies works to keep it alive
Abandoned homes line the streets of Lauder, a town that's now a ghost of what it once was. Yet inside, a small community is thriving.
B.C. family says razor blades found in bag of frozen blueberries
The B.C. parents of an 11-year-old girl said their daughter recently found a package containing razor blades in a bag of Kirkland-brand frozen blueberries.
Langenburg UFO sighting commemorated with silver coin
Perhaps Saskatchewan's most famous encounter with Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP/UFO) – "The Langenburg Event" is now being immortalized in the form of a collective coin.
Taylor Swift wins at MTV Video Music Awards and Chappell Roan gets medieval
Taylor Swift and Post Malone took home the first award at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, for best collaboration, handed to them by Flavor Flav and Olympian Jordan Chiles.
Man, 70, and woman, 71, found shot dead in Montreal apartment, police
Montreal police (SPVM) are investigating after a man, 70, and woman, 71, were killed by gunshot wounds in an apartment.
Tens of thousands in the dark after Hurricane Francine strikes Louisiana with 100 m.p.h. winds
Hurricane Francine struck Louisiana on Wednesday evening as a Category 2 storm that forecasters warned could bring deadly storm surge, widespread flooding and destructive winds on the northern U.S. Gulf Coast.