More heat coming for Medicine Hatters
Despite some weather relief expected Tuesday, with cooler temperatures and some precipitation falling, David Phillips, senior climatologist for Environment Canada, says the long-term weather chart for the Medicine Hat region is showing more hot, dry weather ahead.
“There is a thing in weather called persistence,” explains Phillips. “Which means: What you have seen is what you are going to get. It takes a lot to breakdown these weather patterns once they are established... I don’t think we are going to see any rescue rains. It won’t be as hot, and there might be a little more precipitation, but I think that famous Medicine Hat sunshine will be there in abundance. People who left their holidays for August won’t be disappointed.”
While the Medicine Hat region is experiencing hot conditions in that once and every 25 year-high range, Ralph Wright, head of Agrometeorological and Application section of Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, says that does not tell the whole story. This region also has had about half the rain in normally does since mid-June, confirms Wright, but that is only at the about one in three to one in six year-low range. Similarly, soil moisture conditions while low, are not severe; only at the about one in six year-low range.
“When you think of what is coming out of the sky, that’s not the whole equation,” he states. “You’ve got to think about what’s being sucked out of the land. I think that’s the real story here.”
According to Wright, is in the past 46 days Medicine Hat has had a remarkable 22 days above 30 C. Phillips agrees that is noteworthy.
“The number of days above 30 C sure stands out,” states Phillips. “Usually (Hatters) would see 26 days above 30 C for the entire year. It’s also almost four degrees warmer in the average daily temperature above normal.”
Due to these persistent hot, dry temperatures Cypress County became the latest southern Alberta jurisdiction to impose a total fire ban last Friday. And county officials do not foresee that ban being lifted anytime soon.
“With no precipitation in the forecast, when you look at the cure rates for the grass, with the high temperatures and wind, it’s just going to make that grass cure even faster. That increases fire behavior and tendency,” says county fire chief Kelly Meyer.
Meyer is reminding anyone travelling county roads to keep cigarette butts in the car and avoid parking in the tall grass beside the ditches.
“For motorists driving down the roads, please do not throw your cigarettes out the window... With these dry conditions or you will light us up. And don’t park in the grass... Remember your motors are still hot, your exhaust is still hot. With that grass being so cured, all it needs is a little bit of heat and it will ignite.”