The worst is not yet behind us when it comes to severe summer weather, according to Environment Canada.
The summer months are expected to be hotter than normal with bouts of severe weather patterns mixed in for fun.
“What you’ve seen so far has been a taste of summer,” Senior Meteorologist with Environment Canada David Phillips said in a recent phone interview with the Sylvan Lake News.
The heat over the long weekend is just a preview of what is to come, and Phillips recommends stocking up on sun screen.
Temperatures are expected to be higher than normal, with the hottest temperatures expected to peak around the third or fourth week of July.
Looking ahead to just this coming weekend, temperatures are expected to hit 31 C, but feeling like it’s 34 C, by Saturday, making this past weekend feel absolutely balmy.
“It is really looking like it is going to be those lazy, crazy days of summer in Central Alberta,” said Phillips.
The Central Alberta area has already received a bit of severe weather, with the worst being the wind storm a few weeks ago.
According to Phillips, that isn’t the end of it.
Just last night Central Alberta was subjected to what Environment Canada called a severe thunderstorm, thankfully no damage was reported from the event.
“You can expect more storms throughout the summer, though I think the wind storm will be the one to remember and the talking point all season,” said Phillips.
Hail events are expected to be a fairly common occurrence over July and August, the first of which came in the storm on July 3.
The stormy weather that does hit the area Phillips expects to be brief.
Based on previous years, storm movements don’t often last very long in the summer months.
“Nature doesn’t feel for us, it doesn’t just give us a little it and then leaves us alone,” he said.
The hotter than normal season will be a “hot bed” for severe weather patterns, which will help the area to have a “near normal” precipitation amount when all is said and down.
Thankfully, a fairly wet spring and June have created a fairly moist ground for farmers.
The ground is well saturated from the spring weather and with the near normal precipitation expected it should stay that way.
“No one is talking about the D-word, drought, this year,” said Phillips.
With the warmth of the season now starting to kick in, Philips says the crops in the area should really start to grow now.
Though the heat is sure to give away to its fair share of stormy weather, Phillips says to expect more good days than bad over the summer months.
“The Flavour and personality for the rest of summer is going to be warmer than normal right into September,” he said.