Summer 2017: Hot, dry and smoky
Posted Sep 22, 2017 8:45 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The leaves are changing, there’s a chill in the air, and it’s the first day of fall. But, before everyone breaks out the sweaters and long underwear, let’s take a look back at the summer that was.
Three things stick out: it was hot, it was dry, and it was smoky.
Meteorologist Andrew Schultz, with Breakfast Television on City, confirmed Calgary hit 30 degrees Celsius, or warmer, 14 times.
“To put it in perspective, in 2016 we only hit the 30 degree mark once,” he explained. “We’ll usually have a handful, anywhere between three and five 30 degree natural temperatures, and again we did that 14 times in the summer of 2017.”
The lack of rain was also evident, especially since there was so much last year.
“The average from June right through to September should be around 261.6 millimetres, we did 145.1 millimetres,” Schultz said of the now passed summer.
The data isn’t out yet, but all indications are that Calgary also experienced the smokiest summer in recorded history.
