Submitted by Bill Caulfeild-Browne
The mean temperature in July was 18.1C, just a tad below the norm of 18.3C. The warmest day was the 22nd when the mercury flirted with 30C but ended up a tenth of a degree short. Still, although it was not a particularly clammy day, the Humidex reached 31.3C. The lowest temperature was 8.7C early in the morning of 3rd.
Sunshine was very much in evidence as we’d expect in the middle of summer. There were only six days when it wasn’t at least 90% sunny.
Winds were fairly calm, with the breeziest day, the 25th, only recording a high of 49 kms/hr. Of course that can be confusing because it’s the length of time the wind blows at that speed that determines wave heights and uncomfortable sailing conditions. North and north-east winds are the worst for Tobermory because of the fetch – there’s nothing between us and Killarney in that direction whereas the islands tend to shelter us from north-west blows.
Unlike Southern Ontario which was considerably drier than normal (London only had half its usual rainfall), we had a wetter than usual month. The 20th century average for July was 55 mms; this century the average has been 67 mm. This July we had 76 mm.
I checked this against the government station at the airport which confirmed the total amount but which showed considerable variation on a daily basis. For example, on the first, Big Tub got 17 mm whereas the airport got 10 mm. On the 11/12th, the airport got 27 mm. but Big Tub only saw 12mm. Those who look at the weather radar will recognize the highly local nature of rainstorms at this time of year.
There were a number of significant thunderstorms across the province, including one on the 24th that spawned a tornado. Winds gusted to near 190 kms/hr in Eastern Ontario. Other extreme events included a high of 35.2C in Toronto on the 19th and 84 mm of rain falling in Brockville in just a few hours.
August has started out quite warm and the forecasters think it will be a little warmer than usual as the month progresses.
