Outlook for first week of summer: rain

Toronto can look forward to a wet first week of summer, forecasters say.

The GTA saw rain, thunder and lightning overnight Tuesday and can expect more of the same for Wednesday, all the way through to the weekend.

Wednesday’s early morning storm began with a lightning show over city skies just before 12 a.m. and brought a thunderous downpour around 2 a.m.

The storm was more boom than bust – there were no reports of damage, as winds were not particularly strong at around 30 to 35 km/h, said Mark Seifert, Environment Canada meteorologist. Toronto Island Airport received just over 10 millimetres of rain.

That’s in sharp contrast to the damage the storm system caused elsewhere. In southwestern Ontario, wind gusts reached 90 km/h, downing trees and power lines in the Leamington area.

But the storm did cause a power outage that affected 1,100 homes and businesses in Toronto’s west end, according to Toronto Hydro.

The power went out at 3 a.m. and came back on at 5 a.m., spokeswoman Jennifer Link said. The outage was caused not by lightning but tree limbs leaning on hydro wires.

Seifert said the rest of Wednesday should be fairly quiet in the GTA, but there is a risk of thunderstorm again in the afternoon and into the evening. A heavier downpour is the main threat with even more rain than Tuesday night predicted, he said.

The rain is expected to continue until at least Saturday.

--Zoe McKnight, Staff Reporter, with files from The Canadian Press

Storm strands Chicago commuters for hours

Travelers sleep in Terminal 2 at O'Hare International Airport, Tuesday, June 21, 2011, in Chicago. Heavy rains across northern Illinois caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights from Chicago's two major airports. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey)

CHICAGO - Thunderstorms and heavy winds pounded the upper Midwest Tuesday night, stranding Chicago commuter train riders for hours, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights, and delaying Vice-President Joe Biden's return to Washington after a fundraiser.

The National Weather Service issued several tornado watches and warnings in the region, forcing staff at O'Hare International Airport to herd frightened passengers into a lower-level baggage claim area. High winds also damaged two hangars at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, injuring at least three people.

Ashley Luthern of Youngstown, Ohio, who was trying to make a connection to Pittsburgh after a flight from Istanbul, was among the hundreds of passengers ushered to safety at the American Airlines terminal at O'Hare.

"At first they said get away from the windows, which is very hard to do in an airport," she said. "They then became forceful in telling us to go down to the baggage claim area."

Karen Ramsey of Williamsburg, Iowa, was trapped at O'Hare after flying in from Cancun, Mexico on United Airlines when her connection to Moline was cancelled.

"It was beautiful down there. Come home to this," Ramsey said.

Biden had been attending a Democratic fundraiser and raising money for an epilepsy foundation in Chicago when the storm struck, delaying his arrival at O'Hare and subsequent return to Washington.

More than 300 flights were cancelled at O'Hare, with incoming and outgoing flights delayed by at least two hours, the Chicago Aviation Department said. More than 30 flights were cancelled at Midway International Airport.

No twister sightings were reported in the area.

In Michigan, WZZM-TV and The Grand Rapids Press reported Wednesday that high winds pulled two hangars off their foundations at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport. WOOD-TV said members of the Civil Air Patrol were preparing for natural disaster training when the storm hit Tuesday night. They took cover in one of the hangars as powerful gusts ripped a door off and blasted some of the service members off their feet. Three suffered minor injuries.

Michael Gillis, spokesman for Chicago's commuter rail network Metra, said one outbound train was stuck for about five hours when a storm knocked a power line onto the rail. After 2 a.m. Wednesday, the train headed back downtown and passengers were asked to find alternative transportation or face an even longer wait for another train.

Two inbound trains remained stranded before dawn Wednesday, and the storm caused numerous other delays and cancellations to the service, Gillis said.

"Since the wind stopped, we've been dealing with various track obstructions," Gillis said.

Some 267,000 customers remained without power in Illinois, particularly in the north where the storm hit hard, Bennie Currie, a spokesman for the utility Commonwealth Edison, said early Wednesday. About 5,600 customers in Chicago still have no electricity, he said.

The storm also delayed play for 1 hour, 44 minutes in the second game between Chicago rivals the Cubs and White Sox. The game at U.S. Cellular Field was temporarily halted in the top of the sixth with one out and the Cubs having runners on the corners.

On Monday, a massive storm forced fans attending a College World Series game in Omaha, Neb. to evacuate the stadium. Sirens blared and fans were ushered to an underground shelter as black clouds shrouded the city.

The game between Florida and Vanderbilt was suspended until Tuesday, with the Gators winning 3-1.

--The Associated Press

Travelers sleep on cots in Terminal 3 at O'Hare International Airport. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey)

Severe thunderstorm watch for GTA

Greater Toronto is in for more thunder storms tonight, according to Environment Canada.

A severe thunderstorm warning is on for Toronto, and the regions of Peel, Halton, Durham and York.

Climatologist Geoff Coulson said people who live in these areas should beware of “large hail, damaging winds and brief bursts of heavy rain.”

Sarah Ratchford

Severe storms hit Hamilton area

A fast-moving violent thunderstorm which may have spawned a tornado has cut power to thousands of homes and businesses in southwestern and southern Ontario.

Environment Canada had issued a tornado warning for Hamilton at about 1:30 a.m., which prompted Emergency Management Ontario to issue a "red alert" for the area. People were advised to immediately move indoors and away from doors and windows.

There has been no confirmation of a tornado strike, but Environment Canada meteorologist Rosemary Tabory said two spotters reported "there was a possibility" of a tornado touching down.

"One was on the north side of Hamilton, the other was on Hamilton Mountain West," said Tabory.

She said Environment Canada crews would likely head out in the morning to check for any signs of a tornado.

Environment Canada said the line of severe thunderstorms moved through the region with wind gusts of up to 90 kilometres an hour.

The storm travelled from the Kinkardine area in the north through the Hamilton and Niagara region and Tabory says some damage is reported.

"We’ve had spotters report flooding and report some trees down."

Hydro One said the thunderstorms and strong winds left more than 23,700 customers without electricity.

They included more than 10,000 homes and businesses from Wiarton to Kincardine and east to Dundalk. Another 6,834 homes and business in the Guelph area were affected. Tabory said the fast-moving storm was almost all out of Ontario by about 3 a.m. and heading into the United States.

-- The Canadian Press

Thunderstorms could break muggy weather

Summer weather: Tanya Orova, Christina Marcos, Pablo Sepulveda and Roxolana Popovitch were loving the hot weather down on the beach by Parkside and Lakeshore on Monday. (VINCE TALOTTA/TORONTO STAR)

Tuesday’s summer weather looks like nothing more than a summer teaser.

In the GTA, the temperature may reach up to 32 C today, though it may feel more like a sweltering 41 C.

As a result, the city of Toronto has issued its first heat alert of the year, which will be in effect until further notice. Environment Canada has also issued a humidex advisory again for Tuesday, from Windsor, Sarnia and the Golden Horseshoe to Ottawa and Cornwall and north to Algonquin and Grey-Bruce.

If the mercury does hit 32 C, today’s heat will be record-breaking, said Geoff Coulson, meteorologist at Environment Canada. The previous record was set in 1944, with a high of 31.1 C.

But don’t get used to the sticky weather. Coulson said the rest of the week will feature more typical weather.

“We have a cold front that’s going to go through the area tonight, and in the wake of that cold front on Wednesday, we’re expecting temperatures to come back down to more seasonal values,” he said.

Wednesday’s high temperature will be around 24 C, Coulson said. As well, the cold front, which is coming from the American Midwest, may bring a thunderstorm to the GTA later today.

Part of the excitement about the hot weather may stem from this May’s miserable weather. A typical spring, Coulson said, would probably have at least a few muggy days.

“The fact that it has been so dreary for a lot of people – a lot of showers, a lot of clouds – this day has kind of stood out as a shining beacon of what summer may hold for us,” he said.

-- Aleysha Haniff, Staff Reporter

Hard rain's going to fall in the GTA

Once the rain starts to fall again this week, it’s going to fall hard -- as much as 30 mm, according to Environment Canada.

Though nowhere near as extreme — or as destructive — as the storms in the tornado-ravaged central and Southern U.S., Ontario will catch wind of the same weather system.

“There is a weather system that is coming our way, but people shouldn’t dive under the bed in fear,” said Dave Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada.

“Weather systems move across the continent, and what we’re going to see is a low-pressure weather system with a warm front that will come through this evening. It’s related to that system that’s causing some problems down [in the U.S.], but it’s not the same volatility, it’s not the same extreme, not the same severity as what they’re seeing at all.”

The American National Weather Service is warning that several U.S. states are still at high risk for furious weather, with storms possible from Louisiana northeast to the Ohio Valley.

Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri are all under “conditions favourable to the development of long-lived, rotating thunderstorms that could produce strong, fast-moving tornadoes,” according to the storm prediction centre’s website. A massive tornado in Joplin, Missouri, killed 122 people Sunday.

There is a risk of thunderstorms in southern Ontario beginning Wednesday night, spreading to eastern Ontario by Thursday morning.

But far from twisters, the main threat is hail, downpours and gusting winds, Phillips said. He added that though it might feel that way, we are nowhere near record-breaking rainfall this spring. 

“It’s been a wet spring, but we’ve got a long ways to go to break a record,” Phillips said.

The skies will finally clear by the weekend, with temperatures around 27ºC, well above normal, or what Phillips called a “glorious piece of good news” for the growing season.  

-- Zoe McKnight, Staff Reporter

Rain in the forecast for holiday Monday

After two days of spring sunshine, Torontonians may be let down holiday Monday.

Just in time for Victoria Day fireworks, thunderstorms and high winds are in the forecast.

Environment Canada is calling for clouds, early morning showers and winds gusting up to 60 kilometres per hour on Monday.

The westward winds will calm down in the evening, and though forecasters predict rain in the early evening and again after midnight Monday, there may be a fortuitous gap long enough for the annual long weekend fireworks as they light up the sky over Lake Ontario.

The fireworks are set to begin at 9:45 p.m. at Ashbridge's Bay. The City of Toronto expects more than 80,000 people to watch the fireworks there.

To help prevent major traffic problems, the TTC is increasing its Monday service on area bus routes and adding streetcars to the 501 Queen route, and advising residents to take transit rather than drive.

Bring your own lawn chair and umbrella. And a jacket – temperatures are expected to drop to 14 C after a daytime high of 23 C.

— Zoe McKnight, Staff Reporter

Like last weekend's weather? There's more where that came from

Fog covers the pedestrian bridge over the mouth of the Humber River on Saturday, May 14. (ANDREW WALLACE/THE TORONTO STAR)

A weather system that brought a gloomy weekend to Toronto will hang around for the foreseeable future, promising little relief from rain and cloud.

For today, Environment Canada expects a high of 10 C and low of 7 C, along with winds of about 30 km/h. Seasonal highs for this time of year are typically around 20 C.

Since Friday, we've had a total of 50 mm -- and 53 hours of either rain, fog or drizzle, according to David Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada.

We’ve only have 80 hours of sunshine this month, barely two-thirds of what's typical for a May. April, in contrast, was much more pleasant, with 126 hours of sunshine.

Phillips said a weather system has simply stalled over southern Ontario, keeping the clouds hanging around for the foreseeable future

There is a brighter note, however: temperatures are expected to steadily increase throughout the week, with sunshine in the forecast for the Saturday of the long weekend.

 

-- Galit Rodan, Staff Reporter

Toronto facing a bleak weather prognosis

Toronto is facing an epidemic of gloomy weather.

Symptoms include soggy boots, a grumpy attitude and a claustrophobic sensation as a result of sitting inside by the television all day. In some extreme cases, sufferers have experienced storm-drain syndrome, where a passing bus delivers a thorough soaking to pedestrians walking too close to the curb. Pain can be alleviated with a low dose of obscenities and fist-shaking.

According to Environment Canada, the problem is contagious. It has spread northward to most of southern Ontario from the U.S. eastern seaboard. The cold low pressure system over New York state and Pennsylvania was also to blame for Saturday’s thick fog.

Forecasters warn northeast winds could reach up to 60 km/h Sunday night and deliver more than 30 millimetres of rain. Side effects include chills, broken umbrellas and even cancelled dinner plans. Others will experience only grey skies, heavy cloud cover, frizzy hair and an overwhelming desire to complain.

It gets worse before it gets better, with rain expected in the forecast every day right up to Friday. And experts note a healthy spring temperature should be as high as 20 degrees for May.

Are there any bright spots?

Though Sunday's temperature only hit 9 degrees, it is expected to climb steadily this week, ultimately reaching about a high of 22 C by next Saturday.

Just don’t expect sunshine, the weather system will take time to run its course.

“This low [pressure system] is pretty slow-moving,” said Melody Yang, an Environment Canada meteorologist.

Right up to next weekend, we can expect the same weather, mostly cloudy, with a continuing chance of showers.

There is no cure for this condition. Residents are advised to do their best to stay dry and be mentally prepared for a week without sun.

— Zoe McKnight, Staff Reporter

Seven days of rain in the forecast

Sunday’s Toronto marathon runners won’t need water bottles along the route, according to David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada: Five clear days are about to give way to seven days of rain.

Thunderstorms from the Midwestern U.S. will help give Friday the 13^th some of its time-honoured spooky vibes, but should hold off until the commute home this evening.

Temperatures are about to drop, too. Friday’s high of 21°C on will plummet to 10°C Sunday and 7°C Monday.

“At least we’re not under water yet. Not like the West,” said Phillips.

The upside?

This isn’t the long weekend forecast.

“Let’s just hope that nature’s exhausted by the time the long weekend begins, or else we’ll be building arks,” Phillips said.

--Galit Rodan, Staff Reporter