A Special Weather Statement remains in effect in northwestern Ontario, which is still calling for a significant amount of rainfall this week.
Environment Canada’s statement says we could see up to 50 mm of rain today and tonight, with another storm set to move in from Minnesota by tonight or tomorrow morning. They say the second storm could bring an additional 40 mm.
Over the weekend, Environment Canada warned the back-to-back storm systems could bring upwards of 80 mm of rain by Tuesday. They note about 6 mm fell on Sunday.
As of May 28, Environment Canada says 130.1 mm of rain has fallen this May. That’s well above the area’s monthly average for May, about 80 mm, but way below our record of 215 mm set back in 2007.
The recent and upcoming rainfall has and will further exacerbate the flooding seen across northwestern Ontario this spring. The Lake of the Woods Control Board says levels on Lake of the Woods have surpassed highs seen in 2014, and are only about two feet below the all-time record highs set in 1950.
They add since dams in the Kenora area have been fully opened for the majority of the month, no additional actions can be taken to limit the rate of the lake rising and lake levels will all depend on the amount of rainfall we see in the coming weeks.