Northwestern Ontario has seen very little precipitation causing very dry conditions that have fueled many larger forest fires across the region.
According to Environment Canada data, the month of July saw just over half of the monthly precipitation average.
“It was a very dry July for pretty much all of northern Ontario, northwestern Ontario in particular. Depending on the location it was anywhere from 25-50 per cent of the normal precipitation, really desperate need of precipitation in those areas,” said Steven Flisfeder Environment Canada Warning Preparedness Meteorologist
The Kenora area only saw 63.6 millimetres of rainfall in July which is far below the expected average of 103.4 millimetres, which equals about 60 per cent of the average.
Rain is expected in the forecast for the coming days, but according to Flisfeder August isn’t looking promising in regards to rain.
“Looking forward through August, not a lot of hope in the forecast I’ve been seeing. There should be some precipitation, it's not going to be completely dry, but given the June and July the area had, it's not going to be enough, unfortunately,” says Flisfeder
“Looking at what's expected for the next month or so, it's going to be hit and miss. It will very much depend on how the system remains over the area and any shower activity with thunderstorms that can be very spotty, some places may receive ample amounts with the downpours and some places may receive little to nothing,” Flisfeder added
The average precipitation expected to fall in the area for the Month of August is 84.2 millimeteres.