June could look more like Juneuary than last year's heat record-breaker

This June appears to be off to a more mild start compared to last year’s record-breaking month marked by stifling temperatures and the start of a deadly heat dome.

It’s sunny on Wednesday, but after, that Environment Canada is calling for more Juneuary-style weather. The forecast is hovering at 18°C with showers in the forecast until next Monday.

Environment Canada

That’s in stark contrast to where we were this time last year. Unseasonably hot weather had already arrived in Vancouver by June 3, when the city logged its hottest day in 50 years with a temperature of 28.2°C.

By the third day of June last year, 15 regions in BC had either tied or broke hot weather records. It got up to 36°C in Kamloops.

By June 28, the heat dome arrived in BC, trapping hot air over the South Coast like a convection oven. It led to seriously high temperatures — Lytton broke Canada’s temperature record three days in a row before being destroyed in a wildfire days later.

So will this June be a repeat of last year? Likely not, forecasters say.

This spring has been marked by La Niña’s presence over the Pacific Ocean, and it’s funnelled moisture over the southern half of the province.

The Weather Network meteorologist Doug Gillham predicted Monday that summer 2022 will get off to a cold start, with unsettled patterns rounding out the unseasonably cool spring.

By July and August, temperatures and precipitation amounts are predicted to “trend back to near-normal.”

There will be some hot and dry weather periods, but with luck, they won’t be as bad as last year’s heatwaves.