Ottawa to be drenched by up to 70 mm of rain by Halloween

The heavy rainfall may be good news for Ottawa residents living on wells, but it’s no treat for Halloween festivities. CTV’s Tyler Fleming reports.

You might want to make sure your Halloween costumes are waterproof this year.

A rainfall warning is in effect for Ottawa calling for 40 to 70 millimetres of rain in the by Friday night.

“A low-pressure system will impact the area today into Friday,” Environment Canada says. “The heaviest rain is expected to fall this afternoon through Friday morning.”

As of 4 p.m., 14.9 mm of rain had been recorded at the Ottawa Airport.

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Environment Canada Senior Climatologist David Phillips told CTV Your Morning Ottawa that the system bringing the rain is not associated with Hurricane Melissa.

“This is from a Texas low. A lot of people are giving the hurricane credit for this rain. No. Some of it could be in there, and that’s probably why we’re seeing heavier amounts in eastern Ontario because it’s closer to the Atlantic, so you’d get some of that moisture coming in, but it’s principally the kind of a fall storm that we often get,” he said.

The rainfall warning states that water will likely pool on roads and in low-lying areas and people should expect some travel delays.

Phillips says the good news is that we’re not expecting flash floods with this system.

“I think there certainly will be some pooling and ponding going on. It’s the kind of a rain, though, that doesn’t produce flash flooding. It’s kind of a gentle, percolating rain over several hours, so it can soak into the ground.”

October has seen more than 93 mm of rain already, but it follows months of below-average rainfall, leading to drought conditions and dry wells.

“Really, we need the rain,” Phillips said. “We have had a whole year with lighter amounts of precipitation so, going into the fall, it’s good to actually fill up the reservoirs and the soil moisture and that.”

The forecast calls for 20 to 30 mm of rain in the evening and overnight. The temperature will rise to 7 C by morning.

Friday’s forecast includes a high of 6 C with 10 to 20 mm of rain. The nighttime forecast still has periods of rain with a low of 1 C.

Saturday will still be cloudy with a high of 6 C and a 30 per cent chance of showers.

There’s a risk the rain-soaked ground could freeze into Sunday morning, with a forecast low Saturday night of -6 C.

Sunday’s forecast is sunny with a high of 5 C.

Saunders Farm closed Thursday

Saunders Farm says its annual Frightfest event is cancelled Thursday night due to the forecast.

“For the safety of our guests and our team, Frightfest at Saunders Farm will be closed tonight—October 30—due to the heavy rainfall and high winds forecast,” a news release said.

While many will be saddened to miss out on the scary event, Saunders Farm owner Mark Saunders says there’s a silver lining to all the rain.

“We’ve had a perfect season, so we’re so grateful for that and we’re also grateful for the moisture in the ground because we’re farmers and we need to grow things,” Saunders told CTV News.

Saunders says they plan to keep the business open on Friday for Halloween, and they’ve extended their season by an extra day.

“We’ve also extended our season to November 1st this year. And so we’re really happy that we can then just move people over from today to Halloween, which we’re open for tomorrow night, as well as November 1st.”

The farm says ticketholders can move their tickets to Friday or Saturday, hold them until 2026, or get a refund.

Saunders Farm says they will be open on Friday, Oct. 31 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

On Saturday, Nov. 1 Saunders Farm says they will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for Pumpkinfest, and from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. for Frightfest.

With files from CTV’s Tyler Fleming.

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