The average June temperature in Ormstown was the second warmest in 54 years with 21.0 degrees compared to: 19.5 in 2020 // 10-year average 18.6 // 50-year average 18.4 // hottest 21.6 -2005 //coldest 16.0 -1985.
Following the exceptionally dry month of May, current monthly rainfall amounted to 100 mms. or 3.9 inches, which is 16% above normal. The combination of heat and abundant rainfall provided excellent crop growing conditions. The old rule of thumb for corn growth was “KNEE HIGH BY THE 4th OF JULY”. Most fields are presently chin high showing wonderful dark green color. Soybeans are somewhat more variable but also show impressive growth along with small grains and hay. We have nothing to complain about. Heat units, beginning on May 10, now total 1155 compared to the ten-year normal of 1063 and 1051 last year. I often quote statistics from Burlington, Vermont which is a short distance away with archive data going back 135 years. Most Canadian weather stations were started in the 1940’s. It is interesting that the decade 1890 to 1900 was also extremely warm according to Burlington statistics:
- April 1886 – 7th hottest in 134 years.
- May 1895 – 9th hottest
- May 1896 – 10th hottest
- June 1893 – 4th hottest
- June 1894 – 10th hottest
- June 1895 – HOTTEST
- June 1899 – 8th hottest
- July 1896 – 10th hottest
- July 1897 – 6th hottest
- August 1899 – 4th hottest
Finally, here we are in 2021 and Burlington had an average June temperature of 71.8 degrees Fahrenheit, slightly less than the average in June 1949 of 71.9 and the record set in June 1895 at 72.7. Who knows what the average temperature might have been 300 years ago as an example? The media would have us believe that we have never experienced periods of extreme heat, cold or drought comparable to what we have been experiencing in very recent years but maybe that is because they have not been looking.
Peter Finlayson
