Normal highs are starting to feel like a heat wave after what has seemed like an eternity of grey weather.
Central Albertans are hitting the beaches, the ice cream shops and the hardware stores, seeking ways to cool down as the heat rises.
It’s not surprising that it feels like a heat wave after a month of rain and cloud, said Environment Canada meteorologist Dave Wray from his office in Vancouver.
June was a month of dark skies, with rain falling 15 out of 30 days, Wray said on Monday. The 91.8 mm of total rainfall was just a shade below the 92 mm that is normal for June, and it was well spread out with only two days of heavy rain, he said.
Environment Canada is predicting a high today of 30C with a “slight” chance of thunder showers in the evening, followed by a few more days of temperatures in the high 20s, said Wray.
That’s still a few degrees short of any records for this time of year, he said.
However, with daytime temperatures considerably warmer than they have been, people are looking at the summer of 2012 from a brand new perspective.
Sandy beaches were such a big draw that people had to be turned away from the shores of Gull Lake on Sunday.
Susan Johnson, communications officer for Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation, said the day-use area at Aspen Beach quickly filled over capacity on Saturday morning and again on Sunday, to the extent that people had to be turned away to prevent the large number of vehicles from becoming a safety hazard. Conservation officer were worried that emergency vehicles would not be able to get through the congestion, so suggested that people go to Jarvis Bay or Red Lodge Park instead.
Jarvis Bay was busy but did not run out of room, said Johnson.
Richard Barker, manager of the Rona Home Centre at the south side of Red Deer, said his store is getting a sudden influx of people looking for fans and air conditioners. That’s good news for the store, which did not sell a lot of air conditioners last summer because the weather was so much cooler than normal, said Barker.
Stock that had been sitting still in the past is now heading out the door in a steady stream, he said.
Greg Little, co-owner with his wife Krista of the Little Ice Cream and Soda Shop on Michener Hill in Red Deer, was among those having only limited success finding a fan on Monday.
That aside, he said the past weekend was the best so far this year for their shop, with the warmer weather bringing a significant increase in the number of people looking to cool off from the inside out.
Along with the sunshine come other risks.
Barry Shellian, wildfire ranger and information officer for the Clearwater Forest, announced on Monday that the fire hazard has increased dramatically with rising temperatures and strong winds.
Rain in June created exceptional growth in forested areas, providing plenty of fuel if current conditions continued, said Shellian.
So far this year, there have been 59 wildfires in the Clearwater Forest, of which one remains. That fire, located north of the Brazeau Reservoir, is not under control, he said.
The medical officer of Health for Central Alberta is also issuing warnings about health hazards facing people while they spend time in the sun.
People need to take precautions to avoid heat stress and sunburn, including using sunscreen with a factor of at least 30 and drinking plenty of noncaffienated and nonalcoholic beverages well before they start to feel thirsty, said Dr. Digby Horne.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com