Wet summer expected
Niagara residents can expect a wetter than normal summer, according to a meteorologist with the Weather Network.
“Temperature wise, it seems as though we should be just on par to where we usually are during the summer months, but we may be a little wetter than normal in terms of precipitation,” said Nadine Powell.
Powell prefaced her forecast by saying it was a “really challenging ” forecast for her team because of a number of factors, including the potential for a more active storm track through southern Ontario.
“When you do anticipate, perhaps, the storm track may be trending through your area, the likelihood of getting slightly above average rainfall puts us right in that ballpark.”
Powell said typical rainfall during June, July and August is between 200 and 250 millimetres.
“We could see it go up as much as 275 or so,” she said.
Powell said the average daytime high temperature in the summer is 26C, going down to the mid teens overnight.
“It seems as though we should be roughly the same,” she said.
“There may be one or two days where we may be a little bit higher, a little bit lower, but then we are expecting that there won’t be too many swings that will tip the balance out of the average.”
Powell said she believes Niagara residents, for the most part, will be happy with this summer.
“What people usually want for the summer is at least if it’s warm into the mid 20s and maybe one or two days where it’s a little bit warmer,” she said.
“When it’s too hot, we can’t really deal with it … but if it’s nice and warm, I think most of us will appreciate that, and that means into the mid or even upper 20s.
Powell said opinions on the summer could also depend on when rain occurs.
“If you do get one or two storms coming through, and depending on when they occur, that may skew your idea of whether this summer was a good one, whether it was a dry one, or whether it was perfect,” she said.
“If you’ve got a lot of outdoor activities planned and it just so happens that those two occasions during the summer that you have something planned, you get two storms on that day (even if the rest of the summer was dry), then it sort of skews your idea of what the summer was like.”