KW on track to have the driest September on record as hot, dry weather continues

This month could make the record books as one of the driest September’s the region’s experienced, but it all depends on whether Kitchener-Waterloo gets any more precipitation before it ends.

A Warning Preparedness Meteorologist for Environment Canada, Geoff Coulson, told 570 NewsRadio the last week of the month could bring in some rain or colder weather but it’s hard to predict currently.

Right now, most of Ontario is experiencing hotter than normal conditions for September.

Coulson said some warmer air circulating from the southern U.S. is affecting the lower Great Lakes and most of southern Ontario, with no signs of breaking down, causing the warmer-than-normal temperatures for this month.

The long-term average temperature for September is 15.2 C and so far, this month’s average has been about 15.5 degrees C.

 “In the last number of days, it’s been much warmer then normal and if we look at the forecast going forward its going to remain above normal for the rest of the work week and the rest of the weekend as well,” said Coulson. “Normal daytime highs for this time of year for the Kitchener-Waterloo area are about 20 degrees Celsius, we’ve been much warmer than that the last few days, forecasting a high today for example of 28 degrees.”

The region might get a small break from the heat this weekend when temperatures could dip slightly. Coulson said they are predicting above seasonal temperatures for Saturday with a high of 24 with temperatures possibly dropping even more to 21 on Sunday.

Coulson mentioned that this month has been abnormally dry in the region.

“There’s been less then 2 mm of precipitation for the month so far. The Kitchener-Waterloo airport normal rainfall for the whole month of September is 75.2 mm,” he said.

Coulson added that if the region stays on this stretch of dry weather, it could be coming close to the record for driest September. The last one was in 2017 with a recorded 13.5 mm of precipitation.