The Elk Valley has been drenched with more rain in just one day than it usually gets in the whole month of June.
Environment Canada’s weather station in Fernie recorded 101 mm of rain in 24 hours until 10 a.m. today, and most of it fell after 4 p.m. yesterday.
The average rainfall for the whole month of June is 61 mm.
And it is still coming.
Environment Canada metereologist Doug Lundquist said that while the worst of it is over, there is still more rain to come.
“The system is mainly north of us, but we could catch some of it and get up to 60 mm today and tomorrow,” he said.
“It’s incredible, record breaking rainfall, well over the average rainfall for the month falling in just one storm.”
Records go back to 1980 and show that the yesterday smashed the record rainfall for June 19 by 14 mm. In 2003 35.6 mm fell on June 19 and yesterday 49.6 mm fell.
Today looks like being an even bigger record. On June 20 in 1991 17.7 mm fell, the current record rainfall. There has already been well over 50 mm today.
Lundquist said the weather system has tapped into moisture from as far away as the Gulf of Mexico and Texas.