Calgary is set to reach above average temperatures

Calgary will have some hot days this week.

Environment Canada meteorologist, Rob Griffith says the average Calgary temperature for this time of year is about 16 C, and the city will see some days about 10 degrees above that.

“It looks like a cold front will swing through the province on Tuesday, so Wednesday and Thursday will be a little bit cooler kind of around 20 but the upper ridge we have in place this weekend will build back by the end of the week giving temperatures in the high 20’s,” he explained.

Weather like this is good for business owner Arlin Friesen who rents rafts to float down the bow river. Friesen opened Saturday and had about 15 groups go out and on Sunday, almost 20.

He says the phone has been ringing since 8 a.m. and that number could keep going up.

“Last year we had a really cold May and June — lots of rain — so this is a pleasant surprise for us, and yeah, we definitely are busier than normal,” said Friesen.

Griffith says although the weather pattern is similar, these temperatures will not be like the 2021 heatwave that Alberta saw.

“The timing of that 2021 heatwave was right around the solstice in June, so nights were extremely short, high temperatures built up over a few days and we were seeing record breaking temperatures across western Canada at that time,” he said.

The impact from these temperatures won’t be the same as in 2021, but this time the province is in a state of emergency as numerous wildfires burn.

“The impact here is really that Alberta’s quite dry already and fires have already begun and are getting worse, and this weather situation is not helping at all,” he said.