Central Canada’s drought picture worsened dramatically in August, with southern Ontario among the hardest hit.
According to the latest monthly update of the Canadian Drought Monitor, 84% of agricultural land in the Central Region – which includes both Ontario and Quebec – was classified as abnormally dry or in some form of drought by the end of the month. That compares to just 34% in July, 20% in June, and a mere 1% in May.
In Ontario, conditions split starkly between north and south. Northwestern Ontario received scattered rains, easing drought pressures and reducing many of the province’s earlier extreme drought pockets. However, in southern Ontario, dryness intensified. Precipitation totals amounted to just 40–85% of normal, with some of the driest readings in Bancroft and Simcoe County, where rainfall was below 40% of average.
The lack of moisture led to the expansion of moderate and severe drought classifications, while two new pockets of extreme drought emerged – one in Simcoe County and another north of Peterborough.
Reduced yields, crop losses, and stunted plants were reported across eastern Ontario, while surface water supplies also deteriorated, prompting multiple conservation authorities to issue low water advisories.
Livestock producers faced shrinking forage supplies, while grain and corn crops were stressed during critical development stages. Compounding the issue, several rural municipalities reported extreme fire risk through August.
The weather rollercoaster also played a role. Early August brought record-breaking heat, including a 36 degrees C maximum at Cornwall, before temperatures fell back to cooler-than-normal levels later in the month. While northwestern Ontario benefited from more rainfall, central and southern regions were left vulnerable as limited precipitation combined with the heat to deepen drought stress.
Elsewhere, conditions followed a similar north-south divide. Northern Quebec saw improvement, with many drought pockets easing thanks to near-normal rainfall. But southern Quebec endured significant worsening, particularly in the Sherbrooke area where rainfall was less than 40% of normal. Abnormally dry to severe drought classifications developed across much of the province’s south.
The Maritimes also reported well-below-normal rainfall in many areas, continuing to strain crops and pastures.
