Rain, cooler air return to Ontario and Quebec after impressive dry streaks
More rain is on the way for Ontario and Quebec this week, including for Montreal, which will see its longstanding dry streak come to an end finally
Toronto’s dry streak finally came to an end on Saturday after thunderstorms stopped the prolonged, rain-free period in its tracks. Saturday’s storms even resulted in a funnel cloud sighting.
A temperature tumble is now underway across Ontario over the next couple of days as a cold front approaches from the northwest.
While Montreal’s weeks-long dry streak is still intact, this approaching system will likely topple that streak in due time.
RELATED: PHOTOS: Funnel cloud spotted over Brantford, Ont. on Saturday
Monday to Wednesday:
An active storm track will likely guide several low-pressure systems from the U.S. through Ontario, beginning with systems tracking through northwestern Ontario and the northern Great Lakes on Monday.
Saturday’s energy moving across Ontario fizzled out before it reached southern Quebec, keeping things dry around Montreal for a little longer before its next chance for precipitation blows into the region.
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There will be a risk of isolated thunderstorms overnight Sunday and into the day Monday with rounds of shower activity across southwestern Ontario.
Temperatures will fall compared to Sunday, especially around northeastern Ontario—-but it’s just a temporary setback.
The highest chance of thunderstorm activity this week comes Tuesday evening and overnight as an impulse of energy tracks across southern Ontario.
Rainfall amounts locally up to 50 mm through Wednesday, with most locations recording between 20-40 mm over the next few days.
Forecasters are confident that the remainder of September will come in above seasonal for the province, and even extremely above-seasonal for northern Ontario.
Another formidable ridge of high pressure will grow over the Great Lakes late this week, anchoring where we’ve seen ridges park themselves for much of this month. This means temperatures will soar as much as 15 degrees above seasonal for northern communities, with anomalies running three to five degrees above seasonal for the south.
No matter how things shake out, though, this week will be far wetter than the past two weeks for both Ontario and Quebec.
A remarkable stretch of dry weather comes to a halt for some
This is the longest stretch of dry weather we’ve seen in Montreal in all of 2024, and it was Toronto's most prolonged period this year up until Saturday.
Toronto went 11 consecutive days without precipitation before thunderstorms hit the region with heavy rain, hail, and even a funnel cloud on Saturday afternoon. The city’s previous rainless streak was a stretch of 7 days set back in early February.
It’s still dry over in Montreal, though, where we’ve gone 17 days without rain as of Saturday afternoon. Ottawa’s had rain more recently, but by Saturday, they’d gone more than a week without measurable precipitation.
The lack of rain is even more noteworthy given that southern Ontario and southern Quebec both sloshed through exceptionally wet summers. This was the wettest summer ever recorded in both major cities, with Toronto more than doubling its average summer precipitation.
Header image courtesy of Vicky Villeneuve, taken in Brownsburg-Chatham, Ont.
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