Record-setting dry spell leaves Southwestern Ontario farmers waiting (and waiting) for rain

The London region has just completed the driest local May ever, Environment Canada officials say – with only 4.1 millimeters of rainfall recorded, a drop in the bucket compared to April’s 92.1 mm.

“What a difference a month can make,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Gerald Cheng. “That’s a record.”

Cheng offered up another figure that made the lack of rain even more stark: An average May gets 89.8 mm of precipitation, or roughly 22 times as much as was recorded last month.

May 2023’s dry conditions trump on 1954’s previous local record low for the month, 13.8 mm of rain. But Cheng says there were six days during which the national weather agency’s official instruments at London International Airport failed to report properly and data potentially was missing.

With little rain in the forecast, drought-like conditions will continue.

Lack of movement in the atmosphere – called a Rex block – has been preventing weather systems from moving into southern Ontario, Cheng said. A Rex block occurs when a low-pressure system is hanging over the United States and produces sunny conditions and warm weather to the north.

Monday, Elgin County officials cited the dry conditions in banning all open-air and recreational fires as a safety precaution. Fire officials in London are taking a similar step in banning large fires, though backyard fires and camp fires are still allowed in London and Middlesex County.

“We’re more concerned about rural areas with larger brush and open grasslands that could potentially grow into a larger-type fire,” said acting Chief Richard Hayes of the London Fire Department.

Crispin Colvin is a farmer in Thorndale and vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. His seedlings have received little or no moisture since he sowed his crop of corn and soybeans about three weeks ago.

“We really are in tough conditions right now, unquestionably,” he said.

He and other farmers who grow corn and soybeans don’t use irrigation systems like those growing vegetables, he said.

“(The plants) look alright for now but there is no question a rain would do a lot of good to push them along,” he said. “They’re predicting rain for the weekend and every time that happens it’s pushed off; it’s just the way the weather pattern is.”

With summer expected to be hotter than normal, it could mean bad news for farmers, he said.

Jason O’Neil, president of the Middlesex Federation of Agriculture, farms near Denfield. He says corn and beans are holding on, but without rain for a couple more weeks their yield potential may be in jeopardy. “Everyone is watching the weather. This weekend looks promising but that could break up, too.”

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