Following an extremely dry fall and below normal amounts in November, southern Ontario finally saw more typical precipitation in December.
As the map below shows, much of the southern part of the province received 85% to 150% of normal precipitation during the month. December featured the season’s first snowstorm, one that dropped more than 140 cm in some locations – mostly in areas farther north, including cottage country and Sault Ste. Marie. Other regions across the province saw notable but smaller amounts, including Beatrice at 62 cm, Markdale at 59 cm and London at 57 cm.
Following an unusually wet summer, the weather across southern Ontario turned sharply drier in September and especially in October. The drier-than-normal trend continued throughout November as well.
According to the Canadian drought monitor, 87% of the agricultural lands in the central region – which includes both Ontario and Quebec - were being impacted by abnormal dryness or some form of drought as of the end of November. That was up from 57% at the end of October and one-third at the end of September.
Most notably, two pockets of severe drought developed in November, one extending outward from the Lake Huron shoreline around Goderich, and the other around Kingston. There was also significant expansion of severe drought in southern Quebec, around Montreal.
The drought monitor will be updated for December in the coming days.
