For nine months straight, less precipitation than normal has fallen on Red Deer.
“It has been dry for a long time,” said Kyle Fougere, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
“As of Sunday, this May was the second driest May on record for the Red Deer area in the last 108 years of data,” he said on Monday.
Only 6.5 mm of precipitation had been recorded at the Red Deer Airport as of May 29, compared to the monthly average of 55.4 mm for May.
He said Monday morning’s light rain would have increased the total precipitation for the month but not by much, and it will likely end up being the third driest May on record.
Precipitation was not in the forecast for the rest of the week.
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June is the wettest month for Alberta. In Red Deer, precipitation averages 94 mm for June and 94.4 mm in July.
In June 2021, 66.5 mm of rain was recorded, as well as scorching temperatures by the end of that month.
Red Deer broke its June 30 heat record when it climbed to 34.8 C. On June 28 and 29, temperatures were the second hottest for those days at 32.6 and 34.6 C. On June 27, it was 30.7 C which was the third-highest temperature for that day.
Fougere said breaking so many heat records across the province is unlikely to happen again anytime soon.
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So far this May, Red Deer’s mean temperature was 9.5 C which is close to the normal of 9.7 C.
He said a weak ridge of high pressure is moving into the area so temperatures will be slightly above normal later this week at 21 to 22 C. The normal daytime high is 19 C, with an overnight low of 7 C.
Environment and Climate Change Canada will release its summer forecast for June, July and August on June 1.
He said the three-month forecast looks at longer term trends which is helpful, but it is much more general than the department’s typical short-term forecasts.
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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