Two years ago, 8 places in Ontario broke rain records, then the water froze

This Day In Weather History is a daily podcast by Chris Mei from The Weather Network, featuring stories about people, communities and events and how weather impacted them.

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On Saturday, January 11, 2020, southern Ontario was overwhelmed with a record-setting downpour, localized flooding, and freezing rain.

Rainfall records were broken across the province, as measured at some airports. Windsor received 50 mm of rain, which beat their previous record of 43 mm. Toronto just managed to break its previous 58.7 mm record with 59 mm of rain. Sarnia shattered its previous record of 29.6 mm with 61 mm.

The freezing rain followed. More than 20 mm of ice built up on surfaces in areas such as Shelburne and Hopeville.

On the Sunday morning, Hydro One said that more than 11,000 customers lost power. As Sunday grew colder, the standing water froze.

Ontario storm. Courtesy of @isabel_ONwx

The Don Valley Parkway in Toronto was shut down from Bloor Street to the Gardiner Expressway, as the road had flooded. The water levels were so high that the London Fire Department had to rescue two people from the swollen Thames River.

To learn more about this record rainfall in Ontario, listen to today's episode of "This Day In Weather History."

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Thumbnail courtesy of Ontario Storm Chief Lemaich Tillsonburg Fire @bradlemaich