August carried on where July left off – hot and humid – and very wet for some, as localized thunderstorms dumped large amounts of rain on some locations while sailing past others with only a few drops.
Rainfall for the first week of the month totaled 63 millimetres at the farm in Ormstown which, combined with the last three days of July, resulted in 117 mm of precipitation in less than two weeks. Knowing that other locations received more, some in the Valley have received two months of rain in just two weeks. By comparison, the Environment Canada weather stations in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Saint-Clothilde, and L’Acadie received 59 mm, 97 mm, and 17 mm respectively for the same period.
Temperatures continued to be warm and the air very humid with the average temperature two and a half degrees above normal at 22.8 degrees Celsius. The normal for the entire month is 20.2 C. Even though none of the August days exceeded 30.0 C, the daytime highs were all 27-29 C.
In lockstep with the above average temperature, the corn heat unit (CHU) count continued to climb with 224 CHU for the first eight days; compared to the prorated calculation of 198 CHU, the month is well on its way to reaching the normal for August, 768 CHU. The total so far for the season (since May 16) is now 2057 CHU, or about 60 per cent of normal.
As a consequence, the corn and soybeans are looking very good, but the harvesting of small grains has slowed considerably due to increasingly wet ground in many locations. Blueberries and sweet corn are in full swing, and early-season apples have also appeared on the market.
The remainder of August is forecast to be slightly cooler than average during the day and slightly warmer at night, with shower and thundershower activity continuing through the middle of the month.