Summer is coming in with a sizzle.
Those who like it hot will be happy to hear the forecast for the season is . . . more of the same.
In B.C., summer officially begins at 3:07 a.m. Thursday morning. But patio and beach season is already well underway.
Environment Canada issued a heat warning at the beginning of this week as temperatures soared across most of the province, including the North Shore.
Daytime highs in West Vancouver hit 29 degrees Celsius on Sunday and 32.6 degrees on Monday.
“We’re 12 to 13 degrees above usual for this time of year,” said Armel Castellan, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
The nighttime low in West Vancouver hovered around 19 degrees Monday night.
This week’s high temperatures have been caused by a huge high pressure system that stretches all the way up to the Yukon and into Alberta, said Castellan. “It’s a huge wide swath of western North America.”
Temperatures are expected to dip towards the end of this week, but sunny warm weather is expected to return on the weekend.
Long-range forecasts for July, August and even into September are also predicting a sweltering summer.
“It’s a story of heat for the B.C. coast,” said Michael Carter, a meteorologist with the Weather Network. “We are well on our way.”
Castellan said climate models are pointing to a high probability of average temperatures one or two degrees higher than normal this summer along the B.C. coast.
Warmer than average ocean temperatures are contributing to that pattern. Castellan said some scientists have connected that to the thinning of sea ice in the Arctic.
Although sun worshippers will welcome balmy temperatures, meteorologists warn conditions are also pointing to the possibility of an active wildfire season in the Interior of the province.
If that happens, smoke could again blanket the Lower Mainland in the otherworldly purple haze that marked parts of last summer, warned Carter. “That’s something we’re watching for again very closely.”
