Winnipeg has been warmer than usual already this season, a trend forecasters say is set to continue. That’s great news for beachgoers, but not for the ongoing fight against wildfires.
Climatologist David Phillips told 680 CJOB’s Connecting Winnipeg that the Prailowerries are leading the country in terms of days where the mercury has risen above 30 C.
“You’ve had about seven, eight days where the temperature’s been above 30. That’s over half of what you normally would see for the entire year and yet summer hasn’t really begun,” Phillips said.
“In Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, we’ve had one day above 30. The west has been too hot, too dry for too long… in the east, we’re saying, ‘where is it?'”
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Phillips said the weather agency’s summer outlook is showing this trend is likely to continue in Manitoba and throughout the West, with potentially lower-than-average levels of precipitation.
That’s not ideal when there are more than 200 wildfires currently raging in the west — 25 of which are here in Manitoba.
“Look at the forest fires. I counted this morning … there’s one fire in Eastern Canada, it’s burning in Quebec, and it’s probably a campfire,” he said.
“West of Lake Superior, we have 225 fires.”
Phillips said June is usually the wettest month on the Prairies, but not a lot of rain is expected in Manitoba for the near future. Over the next week, there’s only one day where there’s a 60 per cent chance of rain.
“In Winnipeg, for example, since Jan. 1, you’ve only had 45 per cent of what you normally would get with precipitations, and it’s been worse in other areas,” he said.
“This is the beginning of the lightning season — 70 per cent of your lightning strikes in Manitoba come in June of July.”
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