November 2019 Summary

A dry November that was the coldest in almost 25 years

For the second year in a row we had a very cold November, with this one coming in at 2.5 degrees below average and almost half a degree colder than last year.  This put it at the 6th coldest in the over 100 year history of weather records in the region and the coldest since 1996. 

These cold temperatures were most prevalent during the first 20 days of the month and even a warm up during the last 10 days couldn’t bring the overall temperature back into the average range.  One fun fact from the month was that the high temperature of 10.4°C on the 27th was the lowest high temperature for November on record (the previous lowest high was 11.8°C in 1997).

Although there was a steady amount of precipitation throughout the month with a little bit coming every few days, the total of 52.8 mm was well below the average of 87.1 mm.  The total we have had so far this year of 866.0 mm is not that much above the average of 832.9 mm, which means we are setting up to have an average year for precipitation overall.

It isn’t that unusual to get some snow in early November or even late October, but usually those are smaller amounts.  So the 12.5 cm of snow that fell during the 11th was the earliest date for over 10 cm of snowfall since Oct 31, 1997 when there was 12 cm.

The total snowfall for November was 16 cm, which is a bit more than the average of 13 cm for the month.

Summary for November 2019:
Maximum Temperature 10.4°C
Minimum Temperature -12.0°C
Average Daily High Temperature 3.4°C (Long term average 6.3°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature -3.6°C (Long term average -1.4°C)
Total Precipitation 52.8 mm (Long term average 87.1 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1981-2010 data for the Waterloo-Wellington Airport)

October 2019 Summary

A warm and very wet October

The month started off with a daily high temperature near 30°C (29.6°C to be exact), which was only the third time there has been a day of at least 30°C during the month of October in the over 100 years of weather data in the region.  The others were: Oct 8, 2007 (30.3°C) and Oct 6, 1946 (31.1°C).

This was followed by almost a week of temperatures in the low 20s to high teens, which was still warmer than average for that time of year.  With the rest of the month seeing average temperatures, the overall temperature for October was 1.2 degrees higher than average and we have now seen 4 months in a row with above average temperatures.

The temperature first went below zero on October 19th at 12:45 am, which is about a week later than the average for the 20 years of the UW Weather Station.  It also puts the frost-free period for 2019 at 173 days, about 12 days longer than the average. 

During the last week of the month there were 3 days with over 20 mm of precipitation, in fact just that week would have resulted in average precipitation.  Combined with the rest of the month the total precipitation of 152.4 mm was more than twice the average of 67.4 mm and the most in the last 6 years.

This wet month resulted in the total precipitation for the year (813.2 mm) going well above the average for this time of year (750.6 mm).

Summary for October 2019:
Maximum Temperature 29.6°C
Minimum Temperature -2.6°C
Average Daily High Temperature 14.9°C (Long term average 13.5°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 4.0°C (Long term average 2.9°C)
Total Precipitation 152.4 mm (Long term average 67.4 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1981-2010 data for the Waterloo-Wellington Airport)

September 2019 Summary

Another hot and dry September

I always say there is never a sure thing when it comes to the weather, but for the past 20 years a really good bet has been that September will be warmer than average.  Although this was the least warm September in the past 6 years, it was still 2 degrees above the average. 

Apart from 3 days late in the month when the temperature was above 25°C there really weren’t any extended heat waves, just a lot of days a little warmer than average.  OK I know I’m really digging deep for this one, but the lowest temperature during the month was 5.7°C and I was not able to find another September with a higher minimum temperature in the 100 years of weather records in the region (the closest was 5.4°C in 2015).

A few storms during the first half of the month kept us moderately wet, but a week of no rain and only a few storms in the second half led to a total of just 44.8 mm, which is about half the average of 87.8 mm.  The last time we had a wetter than average September was back in 2014, in fact from 2010-2014 we had a streak of wetter than average Septembers and since then they have all been drier.

With this dry month, the total for the year of 660.8 mm is now slightly below the average of 683.5 mm for this time of year.

Summary for September 2019:

Maximum Temperature 29.0°C

Minimum Temperature 5.7°C

Average Daily High Temperature 22.2°C (Long term average 20.4°C)

Average Daily Low Temperature 10.8°C (Long term average 8.6°C)

Total Precipitation 44.8 mm (Long term average 87.8 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1981-2010 data for the Waterloo-Wellington Airport)

August 2019 Summary

A hot August with average precipitation

In contrast to last year when the overall August temperature was almost 3 degrees above average, this year it was only 0.9 degree higher than average, putting it just into the above average range.  There was a definite shift part way through the month with the average temperature dropping a degree before and after the 21st, this shift can be clearly seen in the graphs.

About three quarters of the month’s precipitation came during 5 very wet days during the middle of the month, with the rest of the month being relatively dry.  The total of 89.4 mm was not enough above the average of 83.9 mm to put it outside of the average range for August.

The total precipitation we have seen so far in 2019 of 616.0 mm is still above the average of 596.0 mm for this time of year.


Summary for August 2019:
Maximum Temperature 29.8°C
Minimum Temperature 7.6°C
Average Daily High Temperature 25.9°C (Long term average 24.8°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 13.5°C (Long term average 12.9°C)
Total Precipitation 89.4 mm (Long term average 83.9 mm)


(Long term averages based on 1981-2010 data for the Waterloo-Wellington Airport)

July 2019 Summary

A very hot and dry July

Although it wasn’t the hottest month ever (as has been reported for the global temperature), locally it was still over 2 degrees higher than average making the hottest month since July of 2012.  It was also the first above average month we have seen this year, as well the 9 days over 30°C was well above the average of only 3.5 days.

July was very dry with only 39.8 mm of rain which is less than half the average of 98.6 mm.  It also wasn’t spread out very well with over half of the total coming on the 17th, leaving only a little bit more to be spread over the rest of the month.

This dry month brought the total precipitation for the year of 526.6 mm back down closer the average of 509.0 mm.


Summary for July 2019:
Maximum Temperature 33.3°C
Minimum Temperature 10.4°C
Average Daily High Temperature 28.7°C (Long term average 26.0°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 15.8°C (Long term average 14.0°C)
Total Precipitation 39.8 mm (Long term average 98.6 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1981-2010 data for the Waterloo-Wellington Airport)