Ottawa shatters annual rainfall record
Ottawa drenched by 1,213 mm of rain in 2017, making it the rainiest year on record — with 2 months to go.
Ottawa has broken another weather record, this one for annual rainfall — and 2017 isn't done with us yet.
As of 8 a.m. Monday, 1,213 millimetres of precipitation had fallen on the city this year. That's 39 millimetres more than the 1,174 that fell in all of 1972, when the previous record was set.
It's also 270 millimetres more precipitation than the city's annual average.
The flooding today is slightly reminiscent of what we endured in the spring. Storm update: <a href="https://t.co/9MrQnooPKH">https://t.co/9MrQnooPKH</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ottnews?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ottnews</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ottweather?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ottweather</a> <a href="https://t.co/VCu4sAHNpV">pic.twitter.com/VCu4sAHNpV</a>
—@CBCOttawaWet weekend
If it feels like a lot of rain has fallen these past few days, it's not your imagination.
In two days, the storm has dumped more than is normal for the entire month of October, according to Peter Kimbell, warning preparedness meteorologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Between Sunday and Monday morning 98 millimetres of rain had fallen, eclipsing the normal month-long amount of 86 millimetres, Kimbell said.
The forecast isn't exactly looking up for Halloween festivities.
While rain is expected to end this afternoon, there's a 30 per cent chance of more showers this evening. On Tuesday, more showers are expected in the afternoon, with a 30 per cent chance of rain showers or flurries at night and a low of 0 C.
Several cars in a flooded parking lot at Bank St. and Riverside Dr. One car is partially submerged <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ottnews?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ottnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/b0yvamFsU5">pic.twitter.com/b0yvamFsU5</a>
—@KimberleyMolinaRecord-breaking spring
The city is racking up quite a few weather accomplishments this year, to put it optimistically.
Both May and July broke records for monthly rainfall, and June was Ottawa's wettest in almost two decades.
Temperatures, on the other hand, have been much more pleasant. After a July where not a single day hit 30 C, October has been unusually warm, with temperatures averaging nearly 12 C. That's about 4 degrees warmer than usual, but a little shy of the record set in 1947, when the average temperature was 12.5 C.