Aug. 24 will go down as one of the most memorable days in Churchill history – not only was the Prime Minister in town, but Churchill also saw its greatest single-day rainfall measurement in at least 80 years.

Environment Canada reports that Churchill received wind gusts that reached as high as 90 km/h. The winds were accompanied by heavy rain, with the Churchill Airport climate station reporting 110 millimetres of rain between 7 p.m. Aug. 23 and 7 p.m. Aug. 24 – 104 of those 110 millimetres falling after midnight on Aug. 24.

“This makes today the wettest day in Churchill’s history since airport records began in 1943,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Dale Marciski in Winnipeg, referring to a statement the weather service put out. The previous record had been 62.3 millimetres of rain in 24 hours, which Churchill received on Sept. 3, 1983. An older climate station in Churchill, which dates back to 1929, measured a rainfall high of 94.2 millimetres on July 24, 1934.

According to Environment Canada, the record rainfall was caused by “an intense summer storm.” Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in Churchill at the time, accompanied by a political and media entourage as part of his annual Northern tour, and the storm forced him to remain in Churchill one day longer than scheduled – leaving for Resolute in Nunavut Aug. 25.