THUNDER BAY -- Thunder Bay residents impatient for the arrival of summer were no doubt glad to see a wetter-than-normal June replaced by the arrival of more typical summer weather over the holiday weekend.
Environment Canada data shows 118 millimetres of rain fell at Thunder Bay Airport last month, over one-third more precipitation than usual.
Local residents likely focused on the fact that there seemed to be so many rainy days, but those with shorter memories might be surprised to learn that June of 2016 was, cumulatively, much wetter.
According to Environment Canada, 213 millimetres of rain fell at the airport that month, setting an all-time record.
Meteorologist Jeff Coulson says the average temperature last month was within half a degree of the long-term average.
"The way the temperatures broke down tells the story in more detail," Coulson said in an interview with Tbnewswatch.
He said although June saw a number of days on the cool side, with day-time highs struggling to reach the high teens, there were also "a few stretches of weather where maximum temperatures did get up well into the twenties," which bounced the average back up.
July looks to bring significant improvement overall.
Coulson said the forecast shows the June weather pattern has been broken by a more summerlike pattern.
"We expect temperatures to be around seasonal values or a little warmer than seasonal values for the month of July," he said.
Precipitation this month is also expected to be closer to normal than it was in June.
