Mother Nature plants a big wet one

After record-breaking rains in June and July, when it seemed like most of the country had turned into Vancouver, Canadians can expect the word "average" to creep back into weather forecasts for August.

At least, that is what Environment Canada is predicting.

"It's been a summer of fickle and fitful weather up to now," weather-watcher David Phillips said. Environment Canada's senior climatologist, Phillips explained that the long-range forecast for August has more seasonal averages replacing the wild weather that dominated in June and July.

The outlook for August suggests that areas that have been cooler than normal will finally see some summer heat, and the places that have been wetter than normal will settle back down into normal rainfall patterns.

The prediction is good news for people in the Prairies where a series of severe storms in July devastated farmers' fields and destroyed crops across Saskatchewan and Alberta.

The Canadian Crop Hail Association reports that more than 10,000 hail insurance claims have already been filed in Saskatchewan this summer — twice as many as were filed over the entire summer last year.

A more normal August would also be well received in  New Brunswick, where residents are only just beginning to mop up after a series of flash floods. In one case, flood waters washed away a massive stretch of Highway 205, leaving a hole 110 metres long and 10 metres deep. 

And in Ottawa, where rainfall levels have been normal, but actual rain days are up.

There were 22 days of rain in Ottawa in June alone. "It's the water torture test there, a constant drip, drip, drip," Phillips said. "Whereas Toronto is just getting the big torrential downpours."

In fact, Torontonians endured the wettest July on record and on August 11 was declared to have had the wettest summer on record as well, taking a back seat so far this year only to Quebec City.

The only solace was that the downpours were part of a continental deluge that saw the American Midwest experience one of its worst floods  in June, rivalling the great flood of 1993, and larger than usual rainfalls in much of seven states including Illinois, Missouri, Massachusetts, New York and New Hampshire.

Even normally dry states such as southern Texas, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona took a drenching at times, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. 

Unexpected flooding in desert-like New Mexico caused an estimated $1.5 billion in damages.

Not all bad news

The extreme weather hasn't been all bad news. In Ontario, record rainfall has contributed to a lush, green canopy and lower smog levels as the volatile summer weather helps circulate the polluted air.

"What's really wacky is we literally destroyed the previous rain record, but every day but one had some sunshine," Phillips said. "It was very patchy and unpredictable."

Frequent rains and lower temperatures have also helped keep demand for electricity down. Ontario's electrical system often has to shift into over-drive and import energy during the sweltering summer months.

But lower overnight temperatures has helped keep homeowners cool — without the help of their air conditioners — and heavy rain has helped keep the available supply of hydroelectric power up.

As for the broad view: "So far this summer, the southeastern Prairies have been cursed, and the Maritimes have been blessed," Phillips said.

Atlantic Canada has, for the most part, enjoyed a warm, dry summer so far, unlike its southern cousin, Maine, where rainy days have played havoc with the valued tourist trade.

But CBC meteorologist Claire Martin warns that the Maritimes's good fortune might not last.

According to Martin, there is a strong possibility that some wet weather may be on the way for Atlantic Canada. "The latest numbers show we could be looking at up to nine hurricanes this year, which would make it a very active storm season," she warned.