Fuelled by big storms, Windsor saw high rainfall in July

Did this past July feel wetter to you than usual in Windsor-Essex? You weren't imagining things, according to Environment Canada data.

The federal agency's weather summary for Ontario over the month of July doesn't show significant temperature anomalies compared to previous years — but does show higher than normal precipitation totals for several areas, including Windsor-Essex.

Our region accumulated 126 millimetres of rain by the end of July — easily surpassing the region's normal 89 millimetres for the month.

We weren't alone. Several other communities experienced higher-than-normal precipitation in July, including London (215 millimetres), Welland (163 millimetres), Ottawa (142 millimetres), and Sudbury (113 millimetres).

"The big departure from normal was certainly precipitation," said Geoff Coulson, a senior meteorologist with Environment Canada.

"A good chunk of the precipitation was on July 2 and July 20 — a couple of days that were fairly notable. And in terms of severe weather, the standout day in southwestern Ontario was July 26, when we saw some tornadoes and wind damage occurring."

Rainfall averages across southwestern Ontario on July 26 ranged from 40 to 60 millimetres, with Pelee Island receiving a whopping 86.9 millimetres on that date.

While July 2023 didn't come close to the "century storm" totals that fell on Windsor-Essex in 2016 and 2017, Coulson advised that Environment Canada considers the region "a very active area for summer severe weather in Canada."

Windsor, specifically, is still the "lightning capital of Canada," Coulson said. "There's more lightning in an average year in the Windsor area than there is pretty much anywhere else in the country."

And if you think that the end of August represents the end of summer madness in Windsor-Essex, think again: Coulson said the region's summer severe weather season "usually persists well into the month of September."

"We can likely expect more in the way of these strong storms in southwestern Ontario over the course of the coming weeks," Coulson said.