It was certainly a great summer to enjoy a backyard pool – hot, dry and sunny. July started out warm and just kept getting warmer. Temperatures were mostly above normal the entire month with little reprieve in the evenings. We experienced an unbelievable 13 days with temperatures over 30C, and that was before factoring in the humidity with an overall high of 36.4C on July 21. And to make matters worse there was no rain in sight until the end of the month. While the tomatoes and peppers loved the heat, the lack of rain seemed to affect the production of vegetables during this dry spell. I also noticed that a lot of spring blooming shrubs that were cut back (like my weigela) did not put on a lot of growth after pruning.

Our average temperature for the month was 29.8C compared to a norm of 26.3C and we only had 51.6mm of rainfall compared to a norm of 86.5mm.

*all data based on Environment Canada data for Hamilton A Ontario