Summer statistics aside …
Welcome to meteorological fall.
Summer was awesome… Or was it? All summer, I’ve heard people say how this has been the best summer ever! Well, it’s been one of the warmest in Atlantic Canada; great for beach-goers, but it’s also been very dry. As a farmer’s daughter and someone who grew up on a well, I feel I should curb my enthusiasm.
On paper, everything looks ok. If you add up how much rain fell in June, July and August – meteorological summer – the numbers are not far from where they should be. If you investigate further, you’ll see that “how” the rain came is as important as how much.
June was very wet – in some cases, with twice the normal rainfall. July was very dry, then came August – a few heavy downpours and we’re back on track.
But not so fast… August N.S., For was example, rainfall 75.4mm for the Yarmouth, total but July/ onethird hours. of In Summerside, that fell in P.E.I., three the rainfall total for August is 130 mm – well above normal but almost two-thirds of that fell in two downbursts: one on Aug. 9 and the other on Aug. 18. That much rain falling on hard, dry soil doesn’t help very much at all. The rain runs off into ditches and does very little good. We really needed a few solid days with a gentle steady rain, as opposed to pockets of heavy showers.
If you’re looking to assign blame, then you should turn your attention to the Bermuda High. Early in the season, I talked about how its position would deflect most weather systems up and over our region. And it did. Large blocking systems like the Bermuda high also influence the infamous Jet
Stream. The Jet Stream can be the systems Bermuda of jet southward. Stream systems compared its stream upper typical along sinks travel. along level High is southward, which to able So position, of a its sinks highway the When if to axis weather the atmosphere, snake south rain run the the Jet in across the most and keeping east Bermuda of our of the the region. its Jet summer usual High Stream This position, spent north year, and the is Why where rain the north it Bermuda is, of us. is another High question. Sea and surface oscillation temperatures in be the looked Gulf at Stream more need closely to in order to accurately deal with that one. It’s early, but it appears this is becoming a pattern – a very small but important piece of the climate change puzzle.