Rain storms mark summer's end in southern Ontario

PHOTO: Paul Paquette, London, Ontario.

Saturday, September 21, 2013, 8:48 AM -

With the "official" start of fall just around the corner, the last summer storms to sweep Ontario still packed a punch Friday night, expected to last through Saturday.

Soaking rain this morning dimishes during the afternoon across the GTA; temperature steady at 18C; Colder Sunday w/ brisk North wind, HI 13C

— Doug Gillham (@gtaweather1) September 21, 2013

After a day of relatively high humidity and balmy temperatures, a slow moving cold front, combined with moisture sweeping up from the Gulf of Mexico, began moving into the region from the southwest.

"In fact, some of the moisture was coming up from what was once Hurricane Manuel," Monica Vaswani, a meteorologist at The Weather Network, said early Saturday morning.

"As a result, we did see some localized flooding through parts of southern Ontario."

Most places received between 20 and 40 mm by the early morning hours Saturday, but Environment Canada reported totals of more than 80 mm in a wide band from Glencoe to Elora.

Rainfall totals as of Saturday afternoon

Despite the at-times heavy downpours, Hydro One was reporting only around 12,000 customers without power in southwest and central Ontario as of 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning.

The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority issued a high water safety statement. It will be in effect until Sunday, but no flooding is expected just yet.

As Saturday dawns, it will be eastern Ontario's turn, with up to 25 mm on tap for many communities, although with locally higher amounts.

ONGOING COVERAGE: Tune in on T.V. as we continue to track the progress of these Ontario storms.