Record rainfall hit Toronto Tuesday. Here’s a look at the numbers | CBC News

Record rainfall walloped Toronto on Tuesday, causing widespread power outages and shutting down several major traffic routes.

At the height of the storm almost 100 millimetres of rain fell in some areas, Environment Canada says, surpassing the city’s daily record set back in 1941.

Some 97.8 millimetres of rain fell at Pearson International Airport, while 83.6 millimetres fell on Toronto’s downtown core in just a few hours. About 87 millimetres was recorded at Billy Bishop airport on Toronto’s waterfront, according to preliminary figures from the federal department.

A rainfall warning was issued for the city on Tuesday morning with a risk of thunderstorms continuing in the afternoon and evening. The warning was no longer in effect by the early afternoon, but major traffic and transit disruptions persisted in the aftermath of the heavy rainfall that caused localized pooling.

Up to 110 millimetres of rain was initially expected to fall on Tuesday, with rainfall rates of 40 mm/h possible at some points, the federal weather agency said.

Roughly 167,000 Toronto Hydro customers were without power at the peak of Tuesday’s outages, the utility said. 

David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, said Tuesday the system that brought the rainfall was “unique” from a meteorological perspective.

It was actually a series of separate storms that consecutively drenched the GTA, but particularly the city of Toronto, Phillips said.

“There was a line of storms from London to the west part of Toronto that lined up like a parade, like jumbo jets on the airport tarmac. And there was storm on top of storm coming in one after the other, dropping their load of precipitation,” he told CBC News Network.