Calgary logged 162.1 millimetres of rain in July, the highest total in Alberta, according to Environment Canada.
“Calgary was the wettest one across the province, with 162 millimetres, basically 162.1 millimetres of rain,” meteorologist Crawford Luke said. “After that, the second highest station we had was Pincher Creek, with 127.4.”
Environment Canada’s official weather station for the Calgary region is located at the international airport, which also serves as the reference point for Airdrie forecasts.
Luke said radar and model data suggest precipitation totals were even higher west of the city.
“So say, a place like Bragg Creek, for example, would probably be the wettest as you start getting into like the foothills and such,” he said. “What they’re showing here is over 200 millimetres of rain for the month of July.”
He said a few areas in Quebec were also in the 200-millimetre range.
“There’s a couple spots in the east that look like they’re kind of comparable with that region, just west of Calgary there. So there’s like around Quebec City, I guess would be the other area. So Quebec City is also in that kind of 200 millimetre ballpark,” Luke said.
So far in August, Calgary has measured about 32 millimetres of rain.
“You know there’s a chance of thunderstorms tomorrow in our forecast, but otherwise it looks like we’re into a fairly dry pattern for the next while, and it’s the time of year when precipitation does tend to drop off,” Luke said. “Typically in the month of August, what we typically see for precipitation is about 54 millimetres.”
Luke said there has been “a bit of a pattern reversal.”
“In July, a lot of southern Alberta was quite wet, but a lot of places up north were actually a bit on the dry side,” he said. “Now the southern part of the province is going to be a bit drier, and the northern part is going to be a bit wetter.”
He said if the dry spell continues, Calgary and Airdrie could end the month slightly drier than normal.
“We could see places like Calgary, Airdrie, come out with a slightly drier than normal August, and places up north, like, let’s say, High Level, Grande Prairie, they might come out with a slightly wetter than normal August, potentially, obviously, too soon to say that for sure,” Luke said.
Looking ahead, Luke said forecasts point to warmer than normal weather through late August and into September.
“It does look like for much of Alberta, actually, that we are trending to look warmer, warmer than normal for sort of the end of August, beginning of September,” he said.
Luke said day-to-day conditions will vary, but the overall outlook suggests “a lot of mild weather.”
“Warm warm days, temperatures into the mid 20s, a lot of days, maybe even the upper 20s,” he said. “So I think there is still a lot of nice weather left to be had. Hopefully it lines up nicely with our Labour Day long weekend.”
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