Red Deer is a little wetter than usual this month thanks to consistent showers in recent days.
The city has received 103.7 mm of rain as of Monday, and normally gets 94 mm for the entire month of June.
The wettest days so far were June 14 with 34.7 mm of rain, June 15 with 33.9 mm, and June 18 with 22.7 mm.
The rain was expected to end Tuesday night near midnight, and the seven-day forecast shows a 30 per cent chance of rain on Wednesday afternoon with a risk of a thunderstorm.
Sara Hoffman, meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said the system that brought heavy rain to parts of west-central Alberta was slowly leaving the province and moving east. Red Deer escaped the worst of it, and the city should be back to normal soon with daytime highs of about 20 C and some afternoon showers or thunderstorms.
“It’s pretty benign in Red Deer especially when you compare it with other parts of the province that are experiencing flooding and people needing to leave their homes because of it,” Hoffman said.
She said no other big weather systems were on the way that could impact Red Deer in the coming days. Due to the rain, the City of Red Deer closed all sports fields on Tuesday.
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Elsewhere in Central Alberta, Nordegg had already received 170.3 mm of rain as of Monday and was under a rainfall warning with about 100 mm of rain possible on Tuesday.
Rocky Mountain House was forecast to receive about 51 mm on Tuesday and has received 97.7 mm so far this month.
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Last June about 173.4 mm of rain fell on Red Deer, according to City of Red Deer rain gauges. Heavy downpours caused localized flooding on city streets, and some residents were left with basement flooding or leaks.
A high streamflow advisory went into effect for the Red Deer River for a couple of days that month, and the city prepared for possible flooding. The city closed Lion’s Campground, boat launches into the river, outdoor recreational facilities, and sports fields and diamonds.
In the end, only some low-lying areas of the McKenzie Trail area saw isolated flooding. No city trails were closed nor was there any damage to park infrastructure.
The heavy rainfall in Red Deer this week also comes as Calgary remembers the 10th anniversary of the 2013 floods.
The 2013 floods left five people dead and damaged thousands of homes and businesses across southern Alberta.
Total damage was estimated at more than $5 billion, making it one of the costliest floods in Canadian history.
Red Deer’s rainfall record for June was set in 1970 with 243.8 mm.
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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