Not a true bummer of a summer, B.C., find out why here
We check in with B.C.'s summer so far.
Now, I mean this in the best of intentions: An uneventful and forgetful summer is exactly what British Columbia desperately needs after consecutive years of record-setting forest fire seasons and temperatures persistently sizzling over the 30-degree mark.
After a string of above-normal summers across the province over the past half a decade, sampling the sentiment on social media would indicate temperatures were substantially below seasonal across the entire province, but let's look into some of the temperature data.
The main ridge axis has been tilted towards Alaska off the northeastern Pacific; consequently, northwestern B.C. has seen above-normal temperatures this month, with pockets of cooler anomalies the further southeast you travel. Some of the coolest temperature anomalies have been documented in southeastern British Columbia, which is off the seasonal mark by as much as three degrees for the month of July.
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BY THE NUMBERS (THROUGH JULY 25TH)
Vancouver
June: 21.1°C (normal high: 19.6°C) July: 22.4 °C (normal high: 22.2°C) Aug: normal high: 22.2°C
Summary: Vancouver, pretty much bang-on normal, keep in mind the low 20's are normal temperatures for YVR during the summer months
Kelowna
June: 25.6°C (Normal: 24.2°C) July: 26.2°C (Normal: 27.9°C) August: Normal: 27.6°C
June was a little warmer, but those anomalies were replaced by cold anomalies for much of August for the Okanogan and Columbia/Kootenays
Cranbrook
June: 22.5°C (Normal 21.6°C) July: 23.1°C (Normal 26.2°C) August: Normal: 26°C
Most extreme cool anomalies in the province awarded to southeastern sections, deviating a couple of degrees below normal
Prince George
June: 20.0°C (Normal 20.2°C) July: 21.4°C ( Normal 22.4°C) August: Normal 22°C
Temperatures slightly below seasonal in pockets, but generally within about a degree or so for Central B.C.
Dease Lake
June: 18.4°C ( Normal:18.2°C) July: 21.4°C (Normal: 19.5°C) August: 18.1°C
This region contains the bulk of the warmth anomalies, compliments of the record-setting Alaskan ridge, giving warmer than normal temperatures from the normally very chilly Prince Rupert, extending all the way to Dease Lake.
FOREST FIRE SEASON UPDATE
12,000 hectares.
It's a beautiful number and it's a staggeringly low amount of terrain burned by forest fires compared to 2019 – over 100 times less area burned.
But, as we know, this can change on a dime. Less lightning, cooler temperatures, and an influx of Pacific moisture are all working in tandem to suppress fire activity through the heart of the summer across the province.
Don't write off August for more persistent warmth, and I'll bet more than half of British Columbia will average above seasonal for the June-August time period. The tendency for a ridge to consolidate across B.C. and Alberta will grow through the first week of August, with the enhanced threat of more troughing for eastern Canada.