Summer has officially begun, and with a cooler and wetter Spring now behind Airdrie, the question is what can residents expect from the first few days and weeks of summer.

Alysa Pederson, a meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada said that beginning Saturday and through to next week, temperature will be indeed summer-like.

"It does look to get quite a bit warmer with the sun out pretty much every day with temperatures between 23 to 26 degrees," she said. "I know at this time of year, our records are usually close in that 30 to 33-degree range. While it's warm, temperature records are unlikely next week."

Though residents would typically prefer warmer, sunnier weather, water restrictions due to the water main break have made many dually thankful for the rainy weather, which Pederson said will not likely repeat itself for several days.

"Unfortunately, when it comes to getting these hotter temperatures, we call [that] an upper ridge that's going to move through into next week. With that, there's more stability in the atmosphere and, therefore, less rain, less thunderstorms, and less showery activity."

She predicted a dry beginning to next week, which is likely to continue. For the coming weeks and next month, Pederson said that early weather models are forecasting warmer and drier weather than usual.

"That's kind of what it looks like, through the month of July as well with our seasonal models. That being said, there are a lot of caveats when we're looking at precipitation forecasts for the summertime because a lot of the precipitation in the summer - July and August - comes from thunderstorm activity, which our longer-range models don't always capture."

She noted that drier, warmer weather models don't always mean there will be no rain whatsoever.

"Typically, July is a peak thunderstorm season, so I'd still be prepared for that, especially when you're talking about the Stampede."

Airdrie's weekend forecast is calling for plenty of sunshine on Saturday, with a high of 25 degrees. Sunday will also reach 25 degrees, while Monday is slightly cooler at 22 degrees. Earlier in the spring, the Farmer's Almanac released its summer forecast. 

According to the Farmer's Alamanc, the long-term forecast for the prairies appears to show that the first nine days of July will see a few showers, with temperatures turning cool. Mid-July will see isolated thundershowers and hot temperatures, while July 17- July 22 will see sunny skies in the eastern part of the region, with a few more thundershowers in the west. The end of July will see a few more thunderstorms and cooler temperatures.

The almanac is predicting that the average temperature for the month will be around 20 degrees Celsius, which is 1.5 degrees above average, while precipitation will average 50 millimetres, 40 millimetres below average in the east, and 10 millimetres below average in the west. 

Earlier this month, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) released its summer outlook for 2024, saying that experts are predicting higher-than-normal temperatures throughout most of Canada, with normal to below-normal temperatures in coastal British Columbia.

"Spring has already brought drought conditions and wildfires to British Columbia and Alberta. ECCC predicts below-normal precipitation across most of Canada will continue into the summer months," the outlook statement said. 

Airdrie continues to be under level four water restrictions, as well as a fire ban. 

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