Summer isn’t officially over for another three weeks but Red Deer has recorded its wettest summer of the decade so far.
During the three-month period ending Tuesday Red Deer recorded a whopping 345 mm of rain which is more than 100 mm above the 10-year average of 241 mm for the same three months.
The second wettest three-month period of the decade was in 2005 when 316 mm fell in the city.
The driest periods of the decade was in 2002 and 2003 when 147 mm and 133 mm fell respectively.
However, there’s some solace in the numbers, says John McIntyre a meteorologist with Environment Canada in Vancouver.
McIntyre said Tuesday Red Deer had chalked up just 62 mm of moisture in August compared with the normal average of 70 mm.
July was our downfall this summer with about 140 mm of rain while June was nearly the same.
The average for July is about 93 mm. Temperatures held steady around 21 degrees for the most part.
The average temperature for June in Red Deer is 17 degrees while July is 20.5 degrees and August 22.6 degrees.
The climate in the Red Deer region is a relatively moderate semi-arid, but often wide ranging.
Red Deer recorded its warmest day of the summer on Aug. 26 when the thermometer hit 31.3 degrees.
The lowest mark in the three months was minus 1-degree on June 1.
McIntyre agreed that it was a wetter summer than usual in Red Deer but the same held true for the majority of the province.
If you thought this summer produced more than the usual number of stormy days then you’re probably not far off.
Environment Canada records that Red Deer leads the province statistically in the number of total lightning strikes per square km with 1.08 hits while Airdrie is second at 0.91 strikes. Medicine Hat has the fewest strikes per square km at 0.42 strikes.
The strike ratio was recorded over a 10-year period ending in 2008.
The long weekend forecast starting Friday looks alright with a high temperature of 22 degrees on Friday and 20 degrees on Saturday with a possibility of one mm of rain
However, it tapers off to 16 degrees on Sunday with 5-10 mm of rain forecast and 15 degrees on Monday with no rain predicted.
jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com