This summer has been the driest in Toronto in almost 50 years, Environment Canada says.

And don't look for the situation to change anytime soon.

Many parts of Ontario, from Kitchener-Waterloo to York Region, are experiencing near-record droughts.

In Toronto, where we've had only 9.2 millimetres of rain since July 20, this summer has been the driest in almost 50 years, according to Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips.

Only 99.8 millimetres of rain has fallen since between June 1 and Yesterday (Aug. 16), which is only 51 per cent of normal, Phillips said in an interview.

The driest on record was 1959, which recorded only 65.2 millimetres of rain in the same period.

Records kept at Toronto's Pearson International Airport only go back to 1938.

It's so dry this summer that trees are losing their leaves at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, corn harvests are taking a beating and fish stocks are under stress as water levels drop and water temperatures rise, officials say.

York Region has been among the hardest hit areas.

In fact, in some areas of York and Peel Regions, lawn-watering bans have been implemented.

Cities such as Hamilton, Kitchener, Richmond Hill and Aurora have received only about 30 to 40 per cent of the rainfall they normally receive.

But this is not all doom and gloom. Some people even like it.

"This has been an urban summer," Phillips, the climatologist said.

For people living in the city, it's been a great summer, he said.

Although it's been dry, it's also been exceptionally sunny.

Toronto has been blessed with 100 more hours of sunshine than normal so far this summer, Phillips said.

The temperature has also been about 2.5 degrees Celsius warmer than normal, but the number of smog days is coming down.

For the month of June, 19 smog advisories were issued.

But there have only been five issued since the first of July.

Looking toward the Labour Day weekend, temperatures are expected to stay warm.

"We're calling for warmer than normal temperatures through to mid-September and dryer than normal conditions," Phillips said.