October 2024 Summary

A warm and very dry October

A lot of interesting things about the temperature this month. The overall picture has the average temperature 1.2 degrees above average, but it has been warmer than that in 4 of the last 10 years.  However, it may have seemed a lot warmer, as the average of the daily high temperatures were over 3 degrees above average, which is the second warmest in the last 10 years.  

On the other end, the daily low temperatures were 0.7 degrees below average.  The reason for this difference were the relatively clear skies which resulted in warm sunny days, but cooler clear nights.

Lastly, a warm streak in the last part of the month was what really drove up the monthly temperature numbers.  The high temperatures on Oct 21 and 22 were 25°C, the only time we have seen a temperature that high that late in October was way back in 1947.

Another consequence of the clear skies was the lack of precipitation, in fact if we didn’t get a storm a few days before the end of the month it would have been the driest October on record.  That last rainfall put the total precipitation at 29.8 mm, well below the average of 81.0 mm and the direst in over 20 years.

The total precipitation for both September and October was 51.4 mm, this was the second driest total for these months in the region where records go back to 1914.  The total this year was just a bit above the record driest of 49.5 mm in 1963.

These dry two months have now put the total for the year of 650.6 mm well below the 750.6 mm average.

Summary for October 2024:

Maximum Temperature 26.0°C
Minimum Temperature -2.8°C
Average Daily High Temperature 17.3°C (Long term average 14.2°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 3.9°C (Long term average 4.6°C)
Total Precipitation 29.8 mm (Long term average 81.0 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1998-2023 data from the Soulis Memorial Weather Station at the University of Waterloo)

September 2024 Summary

Another hot and dry September

With a streak of temperatures which lasted almost 2 weeks that were over 5 degrees above average, it is not surprising that overall it was one and half degrees above average.  This made it the warmest September since 2018 and with 8 of 9 months above average so far in 2024, we could be looking at the hottest calendar year on record.

That hot streak also coincided with a really dry spell, resulting in only 2.0 mm in the first 22 days of the month.  A couple of storms in the last week boosted the total precipitation to 21.6 mm, making it the sixth driest September in the region since records began back in 1914.  This continues a streak of dry Septembers as each of the last three have been in the top 8 driest.

This dry month means that the total precipitation for this time of year of 620.8 mm has now fallen even further below the average of 683.5 mm.

Summary for September 2024:

Maximum Temperature 29.1°C
Minimum Temperature 5.3°C
Average Daily High Temperature 24.4°C (Long term average 22.0°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 10.9°C (Long term average 10.3°C)
Total Precipitation 21.6 mm (Long term average 75.6 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1998-2023 data from the Soulis Memorial Weather Station at the University of Waterloo)

August 2024 Summary

A dry month with very average temperature

There were some warmer days and some cooler days during August, but nothing too extreme on either end.  This resulted in an overall temperature that was almost exactly average (just 0.1 degrees below average).  This means that we have now had 12 months in a row without one in the below average range. 

With a lot of media coverage of wet conditions in southern Ontario, it may be surprising that our 52.4 mm was below the average of 66.5 mm.  But the nature of summer precipitation means that it can be raining in one area and dry on the next block.  The total precipitation so far in 2024 is 599.2 mm, this is very close the average of 596.0 mm.  

As we are now past meteorological summer (June-July-August) we can say it was a warm and wet summer.  The temperature was almost one degree above average, which is not exceptionally hot and the 263.8 mm of precipitation was high compared to the average of 214.8 mm again, but we have seen many wetter summers in the past.

Summary for August 2024:
Maximum Temperature 32.4°C
Minimum Temperature 7.3°C
Average Daily High Temperature 25.9°C (Long term average 25.6°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 13.7°C (Long term average 14.2°C)
Total Precipitation 52.4 mm (Long term average 66.5 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1998-2023 data from the Soulis Memorial Weather Station at the University of Waterloo)

July 2024 Summary

A wet July with average temperatures

With no extremely hot days and only a couple of cool days, the average temperature for the month of July was 0.7 degrees higher than average, this still puts it within the average range.  Apart from being the warmest July since 2020, not much else to say.

Some months have consistent rain, but that was not the case this time.  Two really wet days (56.4 mm on the 10th and 32.6 mm on the 16th) accounted for most of the 133.0 mm total for July.  In fact, the 56.4 mm on the 10th was the wettest single day since August 29, 2021 when we saw 67.8 mm and the wettest single day for July since 59.3 mm that fell on July 7, 2014.

This wet month put the total for the year of 546.8 mm above the average of 502.4 mm.

Summary for July 2024:
Maximum Temperature 31.6°C
Minimum Temperature 8.8°C
Average Daily High Temperature 27.7°C (Long term average 26.5°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 15.0°C (Long term average 14.8°C)
Total Precipitation 133.0 mm (Long term average 78.2 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1998-2023 data from the Soulis Memorial Weather Station at the University of Waterloo)

June 2024 Summary

June was another hot month along with average precipitation

With that extremely hot stretch of 6 days and just a few colder than average days, it is not surprising that overall June was a little more than a degree above average.  Interestingly in the just over 25 years of data at the Soulis memorial weather station, the month of June has not been that extremely warm, so this June was only the third highest.  Also, we have now had 7 months in a row with warmer than average temperatures.

It was a very consistent month for precipitation with storms coming through every few days and no particularly really wet days (ie. none above 20 mm).  The total precipitation was 78.4 mm which is above the average of 70.1 mm, but still within the average range.

With most of the months so far this year being pretty close to average precipitation, the total precipitation we have seen in the first half of the year of 413.8 mm is only a little below the average total of 424.3 mm.

 

Summary for June 2024:

Maximum Temperature 33.9°C
Minimum Temperature 7.9°C
Average Daily High Temperature 25.3°C (Long term average 24.1°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 13.7°C (Long term average 12.6°C)
Total Precipitation 78.4 mm (Long term average 70.1 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1998-2022 data from the Soulis Memorial Weather Station at the University of Waterloo)