July nearing London’s record for rainfall – with two weeks still to go

It’s only halfway through, and London has already received twice as much rain as the average July and may break its record rainfall for the month.

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The monster storm that hit Monday – up to 75 millimeters fell within two hours in some areas – caused flooding in hundreds of homes and streets along including the new Adelaide Street railway underpass, leaving drivers stranded. Last week, the tail-end of Hurricane Beryl soaked the city, too.

So far this month, 165 mm of rain have poured down, most of it over just three days, Environment Canada’s Geoff Coulson said, while the average July gets 82.7 mm. The wettest July on record was in 1992, when 204.6 mm of rain fell on the city.

“We can quite easily get another series of thunderstorms or showers that could add to the total (of rain) we’ve got,” Coulson said on Wednesday.

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Rainstorms are nothing new for this time of the year, Coulson said. Last July, the city saw 151.5 mm of rain. Coulson said the remnants of Hurricane Beryl are to blame for the recent torrential downpour.

But there’s good news in the forecast for those who miss the sunshine: Environment Canada was calling for clear, sunny skies Thursday through Saturday with the daytime highs hovering around 25 C.

Those who want the rainfall record broken, however, could see it happen. There’s a 30 per cent chance of rain both Sunday and Monday as the calendar flips to the fourth week of July.

“It’s still possible that the further we get into next week and at the end of the month, there is a possibility again that we could see more in the way of showers and thunderstorms,” Coulson said.

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