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July adds to soaked Greater Trail summer

While June set a record for the most precipitation ever recorded in the region, July also had its note-worthy marks.

July weather followed the same stream as June.

In his monthly review, Ron Lakeman of the Southeast Fire Centre Weather Services said West Kootenay residents went through a second month of soaking.

While June set a record for the most precipitation ever recorded in the region, July also had its note-worthy marks.

The 117.1 millimetres of precipitation that fell over the 31 days was more than double the average (50.8 mm) and made July 2012 the second wettest July on record. Only July 1998, when 143.2 mm of rain fell, provided more precipitation.

June 2012 brought a whopping 227mm of rain.

Most of the July rain fell in downpours, said Lakeman in the review. Unlike June, Lakeman said there were only nine days in July with measurable rain.

“The initial three days of July were very similar to the previous month with a Pacific disturbance producing frequent showers and thunderstorms,” said Lakeman in the press release.

On the flip side, July also brought some hot, drying days as well.

A high pressure settled in from July 5 to 13 and delivered the month’s hottest day on July 8 when the temperature reached 35.9 C.

That helped July’s average temperature of 21.5 C climb 1.6 C above the historical monthly average.

Mother Nature had one last deluge to dump on the region when it unloaded a record-breaking 50mm on Castlegar in the span of an hour on July 17. The total for that 24-hour period in Castlegar was 68.4mm, which is more than the monthly average.