Farms.com speaks with David Phillips
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
Some farmers across Ontario were relieved to wake up Monday morning to rain finally giving their crops a much needed drink.
“It was a good rain in some areas and seemed to hit the areas which most needed it,” said David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada.
| Location | Measured Rainfall (mm) |
| Pearson Airport | 9 |
| Toronto Island Airport | 26 |
| Kitchener | 31 |
| Hamilton | 18 |
| Windsor | 1.6 |
| London | 2.8 |
| Port Colborne | 44 |
| Wiarton | 0.2 |
| Kingston | 23 |
| Peterborough | 14.7 |
| Brockville | 6 |
| Vineland | 26 |
Stats courtesy of Environment Canada
Phillips said the last five weeks have been “excruciatingly dry,” with some areas only receiving up to 20 per cent of their normal precipitation levels.
There’s no question the rain helped, but having it spread out over a few days would’ve been an ideal scenario.
“What farmers really wanted was a four-day rain with 20 millimetres each day. That’s the million dollar rain,” he said, adding that some areas received a half month’s rain in only a few hours. “It all fell then ran-off. It wasn’t a drought-buster.”
David Phillips
Photo: CBC
The dry-spell in Ontario resulted in some producers using the‘d’-word, but Phillips says it depends on how farmers see it.
“It depends on the eye of the beholder,” Phillips said. “Soybean, corn, tomato, grape and other farmers all have different criteria for what qualifies as a drought.”
So is there more rain in the future?
“Wednesday has a 30 per cent chance of precipitation. I don’t even carry an umbrella at that point,” Phillips said. “It’s not the kind of rain farmers
would want.”