A moderate La Nina is expected to continue into the summer, the AccuWeather 2022 Canadian summer forecast said. During a typical La Niña influence Western Canada experiences the most significant impacts.
The projected position of the jet stream this summer is forecast to funnel more moisture over much of British Columbia. Rivers and streams should be running at near to above normal due to ample runoff from a significant mountain snowpack.
There shouldn’t as extreme of heat in Western Canada this year as there was last year. The drought conditions in place as of mid-May across a swath of the Prairies aren’t a good sign as summer approaches though, cautioned Brett Anderson, AccuWeather senior meteorologist, in the forecast report.
“I expect a hotter summer compared to normal in cities such as Calgary and Regina,” Anderson said.
Even though the eastern Prairies will receive normal to above normal precipitation throughout the first part of the growing season, it won’t last. Anderson said it may flip to drier and hotter during the second half of summer as the soil dries out.
A swath in eastern Canada extending from central and southern Ontario through western and southern Quebec will encounter above-normal precipitation and thunderstorm activity this summer, Anderson said. He does believe this extra moisture will lead to a more humid than normal summer.
In Atlantic Canada, humid conditions are also expected with temperatures expected to be warmer than normal, the report said. Rainfall amounts for much of Atlantic Canada this summer will generally be near normal, in Newfoundland though may be below-average precipitation.
“Based on La Nina and the projected higher-than-average Atlantic water temperatures, there can be a higher-than-normal risk for a landfalling tropical system in Atlantic Canada,” Anderson cautioned. AccuWeather forecasters are calling for another highly active hurricane season in the Atlantic basin in 2022.
