More warm, dry weather on the way for Calgary thanks to El Niño
Posted Dec 2, 2023 2:56 pm.
It’s been a dry November with above seasonal temperatures and according to Environment Canada and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), those temperatures will stick around with the help of El Niño.
Alysa Pederson with ECCC says the dry fall is due to what’s called a blocking period.
“Generally speaking, we’ve had kind of an upper ridge, kind of a dome of warmer air over western Canada for much of the fall,” she explained. “It did break down a little bit there in October when you got a dump of about 15 to 20 centimetres in Calgary and parts of southern Alberta.
“But, it rebuilt right back in afterwards and gave us a very warm November.”
El Niño usually hits in December, January, and February.
But, Pederson says, the upcoming El Niño will be stronger compared to previous years.
“This year, the El Niño, the strength of it, is on the strong side and would be comparable to the winters we had potentially in 1997 and 2015,” she said.
Once it does arrive, Pederson says dry and above-seasonal temperatures will continue.
If it’s going to be as dry as predicted, she is hoping for a wet spring to forego a hazardous fire season.
