Record Rainfall Set to Hit Toronto

by Rob Walker | July 23, 2008 at 01:13 pm | 1593 views | 14 comments

Rain rain, go away...but a few more drops won't hurt us folk in Toronto from getting a record amount of precipitation this week.

Around 240 millimetres of rain has fallen since the beginning of last month, and only another 30 stands between it and the old July record, set in 1980. That rainfall was 271.5 millimetres.

I know that personally, it's been a matter of carrying an umbrella everywhere we go, even if it looks nice out as it has gone from gorgeous summer day to pouring rain in 5 minutes before.

Huddling in a doorway for half an hour while buckets of water pour down isn't exactly my idea of fun, but if we're going to get it, we might as well set a record doing it!

Rain is forecast to sweep across the Toronto area again on Wednesday — and Environment Canada said the city is just a few millimetres away from setting a precipitation record for the months of June and July.

Heavy thunderstorms hit southern Ontario on Tuesday night and in some areas what fell from the sky was hail.

According to Environment Canada, 2008 has been one of the wettest summers ever in the Greater Toronto Area and it's only July. The agency said about 240 millimetres of rain has fallen since the beginning of last month.

frankejames : Will rainfall overwhelm Toronto sewers? Need more green driveways, green alleys, permeable sidewalks to absorb rain! http://is.gd/11ms andrewlockhart : hoping that somehow it doesn't rain tonight at the Toronto FC game.2008-07-22 the_jug : Morning Twitters and it a rain day in Toronto. 2008-07-20 10:14:00

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Rachel Nixon

at 13:19 on July 23rd, 2008

news wanted:

I think this is an important story and would benefit from other NowPublic contributors working on it. I've flagged it as News Wanted and invite others in relevant locations to look for more evidence.

jordan

at 16:38 on July 23rd, 2008

Well, it's still raining (at least in my neighborhood). Maybe we'll break that record after all.

amyjudd

at 16:53 on July 23rd, 2008

It's not raining in Vancouver, although it's quite cold today, and I wish I hadn't worn flip flops.

PEP

at 17:16 on July 23rd, 2008

Please send cool breeze. We're under our first official dangerous heat advisory of the summer, and the official Heat Index right now is 109 degrees.

Mike Wood

at 18:48 on July 23rd, 2008

good stuff:

Rob Walker, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Being a Stormchaser I welcome severe weather with open arms but just plain rain, no thanks.

There have been numerous Tornado and waterspout reports the last few days across Southern Ontario as well. We're still waiting for confirmation from Environment Canada.

mortaljp

at 20:59 on July 23rd, 2008

The rain had been falling all night long, but let up enough at 5:30AM on Sunday, July 20, to capture this moody, reflective street scene in downtown Toronto.

mortaljp has contributed a photo to this story.

on·tol·o·gy

at 21:28 on July 23rd, 2008

One of the oddest and lowest cloud ceilings I've seen in a while - I grabbed my camera and took a quick snapshot. Off in the distance, you can see all the vessels making a beeline for the docks.

on·tol·o·gy has contributed a photo to this story.

AubreyH

at 22:37 on July 23rd, 2008

A photo of the rain in downtown Toronto this summer. In the distance is the Bathurst Street bridge just south of Front.

AubreyH has contributed a photo to this story.

girlwithcamera.ca

at 22:40 on July 23rd, 2008

Taken in my apartment on July 8th, 2008. We watched it rain like crazy outside for a loooooong time that night.

girlwithcamera.ca has contributed a photo to this story.

Zigrida

at 00:13 on July 24th, 2008

thunder storm

Zigrida has contributed a photo to this story.

accozzaglia

at 02:18 on July 24th, 2008

This approaching lightning storm bailed before delivering its promise, but just before sunset on Sunday, 6 June 2008, this unfolded. The cameras were already in place, so the perspective was complete dumb circumstance.

accozzaglia has contributed a photo to this story.

Now and Here

at 02:20 on July 24th, 2008

Just one of many rainy nights in Toronto. A strange year, it has been. After years of mild winters and hot hazy summers, we had a long and snowy winter followed by a mild and rainy spring and early summer.

Now and Here has contributed a photo to this story.

Adarna Photography

at 14:54 on July 24th, 2008

Arsenal - Nikon D80 Lens - 18-135mm Program - Lightroom 1.4.1 Photo - Rain & Hail... Place - Toronto, [Ontario] Taken - 6.23.08 Description: I was in Toronto for a visit and realized when i was to stepped outside of my mother's house to only find a rain storm was a brewing... so while i awaited for the rain to stop i realized it will not let up for a while, then for some odd reason it began to get heavier and heavier and that is when the hail started trickling down and i can only begin to tell you that i was not worried what so ever about myself being caught in the hail storm but was more worried of my NEW car which was steps away from me being abused from this horrible weather... as it turned out, my car was not harmed... phew...

Adarna Photography has contributed a photo to this story.