Scott Hayes | [email protected]
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Jasper鈥檚 weather in June was about as up and down as it could get.
The rollercoaster month started off by setting heat records. On June 19, the game changed dramatically when an unseasonal snow storm blew through, promptly followed by a rainstorm.
鈥淸There was] quite a bit of variability in the month of June, especially compared to say the month of May,鈥� said Natalie Hasell, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
鈥淭he month of May, the coolest it got was actually in your normal, but it had many periods of time where the temperatures were well above normal.鈥�
The first half of June was particularly hot for most places in the Prairie provinces and in British Columbia. Temperatures were 鈥渞emarkably high鈥� within the first ten days of the month. Right after the midpoint of the month, things became 鈥渜uite cold.鈥�
The highest temperatures were 32.8 C on June 9, 32.7 C on June 8 and 30.3 C on June 12. June 7 came in at 29.6 C, making each of the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday that week a record-breaking day for heat. Other days also broke heat records.聽
The high on June 19 鈥� snow day 鈥� was 4.6 C. That day brought in 20 to 60 cm of snow (that equates to 89 mm of liquid equivalent precipitation) across Jasper National Park with wind that gusted up to 77 km/h.
For comparison, the Canadian climate normals (based on 1981 to 2010 data) indicate that the amount of precipitation for Jasper in June is rainfall of 89.9 mm, which is almost exactly the measurement that we received on that one day.
鈥淵ou don't normally see snow in June,鈥� Hasell said. 鈥淵ou're one of the few places in Alberta that doesn't see snow in June, which is kind of weird.鈥�
Most of June was relatively dry, however, as only 44.8 mm of precipitation came in outside of that anomalous event.聽
Records were also broken because of precipitation on June 19 as well as on June 14 when Jasper received 24.9 mm.聽
Looking ahead, the forecast through to the end of July looks to have an above normal temperature signature for most of the country.
鈥淎dmittedly, a good chunk of Alberta still has an above normal signature, but it's not quite as strong,鈥� Hasell said.
鈥淏ut Jasper, I think, is in the area with a stronger signal. It doesn't tell us by how much; it doesn't tell us if it's going to be an extreme period. But there is a strong signal for above normal temperatures continuing for the month of July.鈥�
Jasper should be seeing above-normal temperatures going into the weekend and early next week.聽
Hasell advised people to take precautions against the heat and against smoke in the air from continuing wildfires throughout Canada. She also suggested people pick up the 鈥済ood neighbour鈥� policy of checking in on others.
As for predicting precipitation, Hasell didn鈥檛 have a conclusion for either the Foothills or most of the province. It could go either way, she said.
