Severe Weather Watch Eased For GTA
Posted June 27, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Here’s the bad news as far as the GTA weather is concerned: it’s probably going to rain.
Here’s the good news as far as the GTA weather is concerned: it’s probably going to rain.
Sound contradictory? It’s not. Environment Canada has now cancelled the severe thunderstorm watch for the GTA and a huge area of Ontario. For hours, weather experts had been warning a potentially dangerous storm was on the way, with the possibility of heavy downpours, wicked winds and large hail – with even a remote chance of a tornado.
But a funny thing happened on the disturbance’s way to the city – it was slowed down and took so long to get here, that the sun started to go down and the temperatures started to cool. And that’s led to the end of the warning that could have brought us a repeat of last Tuesday’s 30 minute cloudburst that left trees down and hydro out all over the city.
Other places in the province didn’t get off so easily. A funnel cloud was spotted over Sarnia (top left), although it didn’t touch down. And weather warnings were issued almost non-stop for areas to the north.
The Toronto Region and Conservation Authority had already placed a caveat of its own, noting the potential for heavy rain could leave some areas flooded or water levels running higher than normal, and pets and children should be kept away from swollen rivers and streams. And while it may still come down, it likely won’t be as bad as first feared.
Whatever happens, one thing’s for sure – the cold front will blow all that dirty and sticky air away. The Ministry of the Environment has already cancelled the smog warning that’s been in place for the last few days.
It all follows another 24 hours of almost unbearable heat on the street. Temperatures in the city reached the lower 40s when combined with the humidex, and most were forced to sweat and bear it. But not everybody was happy about the summer simmer. “It’s too hot to have a beer,” complains Robert Dalla-Nora as he surveys an empty restaurant patio. “Look! There is no one on the patio, it’s too hot to drink a beer. Everyone is inside.”
Leo Daddurno has had enough of the swelter, too. “I didn’t think I’d ever look forward to the rain, but I do,” he notes.
But despite all the smog, for 92-year-old Napoleon George, it’s been a breath of fresh air. “I drink my beer,” he shrugs dryly. “I like it, this hot weather.”
And then there’s the point of view you don’t often hear – it’s not hot enough. “I’m from Florida,” relates tourist Ken Benlow. “This is nice and mild weather for us. Normally, we’d be at 98 degrees (36C) and 90 percent humidity. So this is wonderful!”
Despite requests from hydro officials for us to curb our need for air conditioning, the peak demand at 4pm Wednesday was 26,000 megawatts, putting June 27, 2007 in the top five all-time power consumption days in Ontario history. The record was 27,005MW. We set that back in early August last year.
As for this season, consider this – it’s not even July yet.
- But all of us will definitely feel a calm after this storm. Forecasters say the rest of the week will feature noticeably cooler highs around the norm of 25C, and far less pollution. It should stay mostly sunny and comfortable right through the Canada Day long weekend.
- Check the forecast
- Find out how to get up-to-the-second weather sent straight to your desktop
- How to prepare for severe storms
- If you snap great pictures of the storm when it hits, submit them to It’s Your Story.
