The rain came fast and furious on Wednesday (May 18, 2022), adding to the over 100 millimetres the area has received this month.
“17 mm of rain at the Kenora Airport yesterday, so it’s a good rainfall, it wasn’t actually that much I imagine some areas got more,” says Peter Kimbell, Environment Canada Meteorologist.
To date, 107.6 mm of rain has fallen in Kenora this month. This is well above the average for May of 80.8 mm.
The skies were also filled with spurts of lightning and rattling thunderstorms throughout the day as well.
Though Wednesday’s storm has moved on, Kimbell adds that another low-pressure system is right around the corner ready to strike the region with possible rain and even snow in the forecast.
“Right now we’re looking at another 20-30 mm, yet more rain in store beginning this evening (Thursday), extending overnight and into tomorrow as well. In fact, it could possibly be mixed with wet snow during the afternoon hours because the temperatures only going to rise to a high of plus five,” adds Kimbell.
The bulk of the rain is expected to hit the region overnight on Thursday, and continue on into Friday morning (May 20, 2022).
More rain is definitely not what most of northwestern Ontario needs at the moment, as it’s adding to the already high water levels forcing flooding, evacuations, and road closures all across the region. So far in May, the Kenora area has received 107 mm of rain, which is well away from the 215 mm record set back in 2007.
As we head into the May long weekend the cloudy and cooler conditions will continue through until about Sunday, Kimbell says.
“A high of only nine on Saturday (May 21, 2022), which is pretty cold for this time of the year, the normal high would be 19 degrees. We bounce back a bit on Sunday a high of 15, and Monday a high of 18. Our normal high for this time of the year is 19 for this time of the year.”
Overall, the Lake of the Woods went up another 30 centimetres over the last week, while levels on the Winnipeg River are about 6 feet higher than usual. Both watersheds are expected to rise by another 6” or so over the coming week.
The board adds that water levels on Namakan Lake and Rainy Lake are around their 2014 peaks and may exceed all-time records, and levels in the Lac Seul area have risen by over 26”.