Airdrie’s damp start to August is picking up where July left off — with more rain in the forecast and a risk of thunderstorms overnight.
Environment Canada’s Saturday afternoon forecast called for a 60 per cent chance of evening showers, with rain beginning near midnight. Thunderstorms are possible through the evening and overnight hours. Rainfall totals could reach 5 to 10 millimetres by Sunday morning.
Another 5 to 10 millimetres is expected during the day Sunday, as showers continue through the afternoon. Winds will shift to northwest at 20 km/h near noon, with a high of 18 C and a moderate UV index of 3.
Skies are forecast to clear Sunday evening, though fog patches may develop overnight. The low will dip to 9 C.
The long weekend marks a continuation of a wet trend across the Calgary region. According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, July brought 162.1 millimetres of rain to Calgary International Airport — more than double the normal July average of 65.7 millimetres. That makes it the third-wettest July on record in Calgary, behind only 1927 and 2016.
Airdrie also saw above-normal totals, according to meteorologist Christy Climenhaga.
“It was a very wet month across southern Alberta, especially around the Calgary area,” she said in an interview Friday. “Airdrie [had] above normal for precipitation … a couple of rainfall events in the month of July tipping the scales and making for a very wet one.”
Looking ahead, Monday’s forecast calls for a mix of sun and cloud with a 60 per cent chance of showers and a high of 21 C. Overnight lows will remain in the single digits.
Tuesday is expected to bring a 30 per cent chance of showers under a mix of sun and cloud, with a high of 23 C. Sunshine is expected Wednesday, followed by another round of showers on Thursday and Friday as highs dip into the high teens.
Climenhaga said long-range models are leaning wetter for August, but temperatures remain uncertain for southern Alberta.
“Our models are pulling in wetter conditions,” she said. “With temperature, still a bit of a question mark … a slightly warmer-than-normal note [is] possible, but also not really seeing a trend in that area.”
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