July Stats and Summary

     If you thought July was a little hotter than usual, you were correct! With an average mean temperature of 22.3°C, July 2012 goes down as 5th warmest July since 1873. It is also the warmest July in 76 years! It marks the 13th consecutive month of above normal temperatures in the city, an incredible streak that we see no signs of ending yet.

Top 10 warmest Julys since 1873 (mean temperature):

1.  24.2°C    1936
2.  22.4°C    1914, 1916 and 1935
5.  22.3°C    2012
6.  22.2°C    1957 and 1983
8.  22.1°C    1989
9.  21.9°C    1923 and 1974

     14 days this July had temperatures over 30°C, which ties for 4th most in any July. The maximum was 35.4°C on July 29.

Top 5 Julys with most 30°C + days

1.  17 days    1936
2.  16 days    2006
3.  15 days    1914
4.  14 days    1974 and 2012

     Despite the drought conditions that plagued much of July, the month was only the 12th driest since 1873, with 23.5 mm of rain. Much of that rain fell in three bursts on July 4, 15 and 29.

     Thunderstorms were very hit and miss throughout the month, with many of them missing the city of Winnipeg, thus our low rainfall amounts. It was a different story in other parts of the province. Some notable wetter areas were Swan River with 182 mm and Steinbach with over 100 mm for the month. These two anomalies in southern Manitoba were thanks to isolated heavy thunderstorm events which severely flooded both areas.

     Some notable thunderstorm events:
July 4 - MCS system moved through southern Manitoba, creating an incredible lightning show for areas south of the Trans-Canada. There were many cloud-to-ground strikes. One home near Îles-des-chênes burst into flames after lightning struck the home. No one was injured thankfully.

July 19/20 - Some strong thunderstorms moved through south-central and southeastern Manitoba near midnight, creating a spectacular light show. The storm hit areas just north of Winnipeg hardest with up to 20 mm of rainfall. Southern and western sections of the city did not get the much-needed rain however, with only a trace.

July 29 - This event took the cake. Vicious thunderstorms in western Manitoba and the Interlake moved southeastwards into the Winnipeg area, and into southeastern Manitoba in the afternoon and evening. The storms brought incredible winds to the Interlake and Winnipeg area, with gusts well over 90 km/h reported. Winnipeg saw a peak gust of 98 km/h at the airport, while winds of 150 km/h may have occured in the southern Interlake, near St. Laurent in particular. Damage was extensive. Trees were uprooted, including within Winnipeg, along with downed power lines and other damages. A house near St. Laurent was completely destroyed as plow winds ripped through the area. The storms caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages, and will take weeks to clean up. Below is a brief gallery of photos of this event.