High heat and humidity are in the forecast for the first day of summer (which arrived at 5:14 a.m. Tuesday), and it may be, in the words of Environment Canada's David Phillips, the flavour of the summer.
"All of the models, both United States and Canada, are showing a warmer than normal summer in the Lake Simcoe area. It may not be as warm as what we've seen in some of the last two summers. I remember 2020 … we had 24 days where the temperature got above 30. We normally see about seven of those in the Lake Simcoe area."
And it looks like it will be a drier than normal summer, says Phillips, after experiencing more than double the usual amount of rain in June (90 millimetres). "It was wetter with more cloudy days, and so the strawberries won't be as sweet and plump or as large as they have been in other recent years."
Phillips thinks swimming in Lake Simcoe will be great this year because the temperatures are already a little warmer than normal. And with more warm weather coming, those temperatures are going to climb.
There's also the prospect of severe weather. We've already seen some to the east of our region with tornadoes and Derechos. Those storms don't show up in the computer models, but Phillips says we know they can happen, and we should not be taken by surprise.
"On a day where the temperatures are high, and the humidity is high, you just know the atmosphere is angry, the atmosphere is turbulent, and it's going to strike somewhere."
"Don't be hiding under the bed, but check the weather, keep an eye on the sky and see what looks threatening. I always think that we shouldn't wait for somebody to tell us that the weather's going to turn out to be severe. I think that's too late. All the signs are there … a dark cloud, maybe even a greeny sky."
Phillips says on those days when the weather is threatening, keep an eye on the sky and know what to do.
Banner image: Photograph - Vicki Howe, Barrie
