This July had many keeping their eyes to the skies with the memory of July 2015 in the forefront of most of Chestermere’s minds. Although we had no massive flood like last year, July 2016 had its fair share of rain and storms – much more than what is normal says some.
We all know that in Southern Alberta, especially in our region, although our weather can be pretty unpredictable, the pattern is pretty much the same. Wake up to sun and blue sky, clouds start to roll in by early afternoon, thunderstorm watch issued, thunderstorm warning issued, storm hits, storm leaves and we’re then typically left with a gorgeous sunset. This July saw that same pattern day after day after day after day – and the storms seem to be a bit more vicious then in past years.
Environment Canada released some statistics on this stormy July saying that Calgary and area saw twenty-three wet days in July, which resulted in around 200mm of rainfall. The average of rainfall expected in Calgary and area is 65mm. It was also reported that typically, the month of July would see about eight thunderstorms, and at last count this July saw twenty.
But it wasn’t just the amount of rain that was alarming. The intensity of the storms had everyone watching the skies, posting their incredible photos on social media and also caused the cancellation of some popular events in the area. With rainfall occurring every day of the Calgary Stampede, it went on as usual but did see a decrease in attendance. The Oxford Stomp was cancelled due to rainfall and the conditions of the event site, the Saturday night chuckwagon races at the Strathmore Stampede also had to be cancelled due to severe storms it the area with intense lightening.
Chestermere also saw some early mornings of thick fog, which is also not common in July according to Environment Canada.
But if you’re sick of the rain and instable weather, Environment Canada says August promises to be much better with day time temperatures in the low to mid twenties and so far only showing a couple impending storms. But, this is Alberta….so its best to probably play it day by day…maybe even hour by hour.
