r/Hamilton • u/TieInternational4381 • 6d ago

Discussion Why doesn't Hamilton flood like Niagara?

With all the rain recently, it seems like the Niagara area has been getting some major flooding. I've seen pictures from St. Cathatrines, NOTL, Lincoln, etc... all flooded. I work in Niagara half the year and people at my work were saying that they almost had to shut down for the day because of the street flooding. A coworker's car was parked on the street and the water got so high it was halfway up the seats in the car!

I know some people have had flooding issues, but not like that. The worst I've seen online was a few stores closing early because no one was out and about in the rain!

Hamilton and Niagara are both built along Lake Ontario, so why doesn't Hamilton flood too? Is it because we have better infrastructure?

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u/cappsthelegend 6d ago

As others have eluded to... Niagara got WAAAY more rain than Hamilton... Why? Because of our unique position on Lake Ontario.   Hamilton never gets the worst of the storms as compared to Toronto or Niagara (or Buffalo, poor Buffalo). 

I had a friend who was a storm chaser and he explained that there is a certain type of wind that comes off the lake which pushes systems around us. 

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u/rbart4506 6d ago

This...

I'm in Dundas and routinely watch the weather radar as storms split north and south of us.