The Alberta summer forecast is out and prepare for a scorcher

The Alberta summer forecast is out, and you’ll be slathering on the sunscreen no matter where you are in the province.

Daily Hive contacted Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to find out what kind of weather we can expect this year.

“Much of Alberta is more likely to be above normal, actually most of the country unless you’re on the west coast of BC,” says Alysa Pederson with ECCC.

“When we talk about above normal, that could be by 1°C, it could be by a couple on average. June, July, and August are likely to have temperatures more often than not above normal, so we’re talking 25°C. And then, of course, there is likely to be some heat events as there always is where we get temperatures up towards 30°C.”

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Calgary’s normal daytime highs in June are around 19.7°C, with Edmonton sitting a little higher at 21°C. Temperatures tend to peek in July in both cities around 23°C before dipping slightly by about half a degree in August.

Pederson says these warmer summers will likely become the norm.

“With climate change, we’re getting warmer, and we’re getting warmer quite fast, so to have seasonal forecasts like this and to have them verified above normal, it’s like, well, yeah, but our normals are going up too.”

You’ll want to prepare for more than just the heat in Alberta. Some areas of the province are shaping up for a drier summer than usual, although precipitation is trickier to predict, according to Pederson.

“With thunderstorm activity being the main driver of precipitation through July and August and then, of course, big storm systems through June along with thunderstorm activity, confidence in a precipitation forecast is quite challenging.”

“There is an indication right now that essentially Red Deer south through Alberta looks to be a drier than normal summer.”

Albertans can expect the warmth and dry weather to kick in this month, so you might want that sunscreen handy sooner rather than later!