**** Info via Environment Canada
Summer temperature outlook via Environment Canada
Summer is officially here, meteorologically speaking, that is! June 1 marked the start of meteorological summer.
Meteorologists and climatologists break the seasons down into groupings of three months based on the annual temperature cycle as well as our calendar. Generally, summer is the warmest time of the year; therefore, the three warmest months of the year, June, July, and August, define the summer season.
Let’s have a look at what the summer season has in store for us:
Average temperatures map for the months of June, July and August. As we can see, over the next three months, most of Canada can expect above-average seasonal temperatures.
This year, there has been a significant shift in weather patterns from a La Niña to an El Niño. Normally, El Niño brings cooler temperatures to eastern Canada and warmer temperatures to the coast of British Columbia. However, current models indicate that the warming effect will dominate in eastern Canada during the summer, despite the El Niño signal.
With warm conditions persisting from the end of spring and expected to continue through summer, several provinces are facing a critical wildfire season. Disastrous situations often develop over months, and in this case, the unusually high temperatures and lack of precipitation leading up to the wildfire season have contributed to the already active wildfires.
Recap on this spring
Temperature anomalies (difference from normal) for the months of March, April and May.
The start of spring was marked by colder-than-normal temperatures out west, in northern Ontario, and the southern parts of the territories. Much of the warmth and above-average temperatures were centred over Baffin Island, parts of northern and central Quebec, the Atlantic, and the northern parts of the territories. Precipitation varied from below average across most of the country to well below average, specifically for British Columbia’s coast and Atlantic regions.
The cooler-than-average temperatures out west and warmer-than-average temperatures over Baffin Island persisted in April, but much less pronounced. Precipitation patterns shifted during the month as regions in British Columbia, the Yukon, and Ontario received above-average precipitations while the Atlantic region continued receiving below-average amounts. The Prairies hovered slightly below-average in terms of monthly precipitations.
The big shift came in May when an upper-level ridge of high pressure developed in the western provinces, creating a volatile situation with the extreme heat settling in and below-average precipitation. These conditions brought a prolonged stretch of very dry and unseasonably hot temperatures, contributing to increased wildfires and a drop in air quality.
