Both the second wettest and hottest August in over 20 years
The month of August had only a few cooler days compared to 8 days above 30°C, this resulted in an overall temperature that was a little more than 3 degrees above average. Not only was this the second warmest August in the last 20 years, it was also one of the odd times when August was actually hotter than July.
That was quite the storm that came through on the 29th! Between the hours of 7:15 and 8:15 pm a total of 47.8 mm of rain was recorded. This was the second highest 1 hour precipitation recorded at the UW Weather Station since it was established in 1998 (the record was 57.4 mm on August 2nd, 2014). It also was over half of the total average precipitation for the month which is 83.9 mm.
If it wasn’t for that big storm at the end of the month, it might have actually ended up a drier than average month. But that storm resulted in the total for August of 122.6 mm to be the second highest in close to 30 years.
After a dry start to the year, these last few wet months have brought the total precipitation we have seen so far in 2021 of 577.5 mm closer to the average of 596.0 mm.
Summary for August 2021:
Maximum Temperature 31.7°C
Minimum Temperature 8.4°C
Average Daily High Temperature 27.8°C (Long term average 24.8°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 16.2°C (Long term average 12.9°C)
Total Precipitation 122.6 mm (Long term average 83.9 mm)
(Long term averages based on 1981-2010 data for the Waterloo-Wellington Airport)