It may not have broken major weather records, but summer 2007 had Canadians feeling the heat with weather that was hotter and wetter than normal, especially around Nunavut.
An Environment Canada bulletin released Friday said this summer was the seventh warmest on record. But with most of Canada seeing temperatures less then one degree Celsius above summer norms, weather experts say most Canadians probably didn't feel much hotter than usual.
Bob Whitewood, a climatologist with Environment Canada, said changes in summer temperatures didn't affect the majority of Canadians since it was hottest and wettest in sparsely populated areas.
"In general, unless you live in the High Arctic, most people would have thought this summer was fairly close normal, temperature-wise," Whitewood told ctv.ca
Only the northernmost reaches of Nunavut felt temperatures rise more than 1 degree Celsius above normal.
According to the bulletin:
- Southern Ontario and southern Quebec region had the lowest above-normal temperatures. It was only 0.4 degrees Celsius warmer than normal.
- The highest above-normal temperatures were recorded in the region covering most of Nunavut, with temperatures 1.4 degrees Celsius hotter than normal.
- Summer 2007 was the 28th wettest on record, with precipitation at 2.9 per cent above normal.
- The climate region covering most of Nunavut saw its second wettest summer, with rainfall 28 per cent above normal.
- The region covering the southern half of the Prairie provinces saw its seventh driest summer, with rainfall 26.6 per cent below normal.
Brett Anderson, a senior meteorologist with accuweather.com, said the results weren't particularly unusual. What was surprising was that temperatures weren't higher.
"I expected a lot more -- out of my gut instinct, I thought it would be a little bit warmer than that," he told ctv.ca.
While summer temperatures have been increasing for the past 60 years, other seasons such as winter and fall are most prone to changes in weather trends.
"The fact that we were above normal (this summer) is to be expected," said Whitewood. "Summers aren't getting all that much hotter, but winters are getting that much less cold."
Higher-than-normal temperatures in the North don't come as a surprise, but they are cause for concern. Anderson predicts the trend will continue. "There's a lot of ice up there, so what's happening is we're seeing the ice melting quicker, and with less ice, a lot more sun radiation is being absorbed instead of reflected back."
Looking ahead to next summer, The Old Farmer's Almanac predicts the summer of 2008 will be the hottest in a century. First published in 1972, the almanac boasts an accuracy rate of 80 per cent. Its website says it uses a "secret weather forecasting formula" based on natural weather cycles for predictions.
There's another factor at play in the lofty prediction--years ending in "8" are said to have wacky and memorable weather.
Anderson said the Almanac will probably be accurate about temperatures in Arctic Canada getting hotter than ever. "That's just an instinct. But for everywhere else, who knows?"
