OCTOBER BEGINS BRILLIANT FESTIVAL OF COLOURS SEASON
MUSKOKA — October looks to be a brilliant month for Muskoka’s Festival of Colour.
Everything’s coming up roses — and yellows and oranges.
Algonquin Park is pretty much at or near its peak.
The same can be seen across the district.
And more good news: there is no snow in the local forecast this month — unless you live in the northern parts of the province.
But the first week of October will still be wet in Central Ontario — as you’re witnessing.
And one thing is certain: temperatures will continue their gradual descent.
That’s this month’s dispatch from Environment Canada.
It follows a rough start in September.
Notably Sept. 3 when an EF-1 tornado struck Washago and Severn Bridge, as confirmed by Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP).
It resulted in major tree damage and siding damage to one roof.
Environment officials add that following a normal to slightly warm August in Ontario, temperatures in September were just below “normal to normal.”
While the majority of the province fell in to the normal range, areas directly north of Lake Huron and Lake Superior, as well as in the Ottawa region, experienced temperatures below normal by 1 to 2°C.
Precipitation in September ranged from -50% to +50% of normal, although normal conditions prevailed for most of the province.
Conditions were drier than normal (anomalies of -50 to -10%) in northwestern Ontario and along the lower Great Lakes. Conditions were wetter than normal in northeastern and central Ontario with some anomalies exceeding +50%.
| Observations compared to the 1981-2010 normals for September 2020 (see Appendix for a geographic representation of all of Ontario) City | Mean Temp (obs/normal) (°C) | Difference
(°C) |
Total Precip (obs/normal) (mm) |
| Kenora | 12.0* / 12.7 | -0.7 | 41.3 / 85.6 |
| Moosonee | 10.9 / 10.5 | 0.4 | 126.9* / 95.3 |
| Ottawa Airport | 13.9* / 15.0 | -1.1 | 52.0* / 90.1 |
| Sudbury | 11.0* / 13.0 | -2.0 | 105.9* / 101.1 |
| Thunder Bay1 | 11.2* / 11.0 | 0.2 | 70.3* / 88.0 |
| Toronto Pearson | 16.8 / 16.2 | 0.6 | 40.8 / 74.5 |
| Windsor | 16.6* / 17.9 | -1.3 | 78.1* / 93.9 |
*Estimated or incomplete value
1971-2000 normals used
Significant Events
It was a quiet month, for the most part, across Ontario, but there were a few noteworthy events:
September 1-3: Lines of Thunderstorms
For three consecutive days, lines of thunderstorms crossed portions of the province. On September 1, southwestern Ontario was the principal recipient of successive lines of thunderstorms, which resulted in significant rainfall in a number of locations, notably London – which reported 50 mm overnight.
A day later the thunderstorms affected mostly eastern Ontario, and as the line moved over the St. Lawrence River during the evening hours, strong winds caused tree damage and removed the metal siding of an industrial building in Cornwall.
September 3 the line crossed northeastern Ontario during the afternoon hours and southern Ontario during the evening.
Some damage, mostly from trees but also minor structural damage to a few houses, occurred in Port Colborne, on the shores of Lake Erie. An EF-0 tornado was deemed to be responsible, according to Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP).
Some tree damage and siding damage to one roof were also reported much further north, in Washago / Severn Bridge, just north of Orillia. There, an EF-1 tornado was confirmed by the NTP.
September 6-7: Major Storm across Northern Ontario
Between the afternoon of September 6 and the evening of September 7, a deep low-pressure system roared across northern Ontario causing strong winds and dumped significant rainfall over many regions of the Far North.
Winds of up to 75 km/h in Dryden tore the roof off a medical building. Thunderstorms also crossed Lake Superior, dumping 45 mm of rain in a few hours over Thunder Bay, and then made their way across central and southwestern Ontario during the early morning hours of September 7.
Strong winds caused 11,000 hydro customers to lose power and one house in Richmond Hill was damaged by a lightning strike.
September 13: Tornado in Laurentian Valley
During the afternoon of September 13, radar indicated that a few localized showers crossed the Ottawa River near Pembroke, in the Township of Laurentian Valley. One of them was particularly intense, even without the presence of lightning, and caused damage to about 20 homes along Drive-in Road, mostly from falling trees.
The NTP investigated the damage remotely and determined that an EF-0 tornado was responsible.
Yesterday, September 30: Tornado in Hamilton
It was an unsettled day with showers across southern Ontario. Thunderstorms developed in the afternoon and damage was reported in the Strabane area of Hamilton.
A farm outbuilding was destroyed, barn roof was damaged and shifted, trees were snapped and a truck was overturned. The NTP confirmed that an EF1 tornado had occurred with maximum winds of 150 km/h.
The preliminary path length was 700 m and the maximum width was 100 m.
