As we say goodbye to summer, we can reflect on the warm season that was enjoyed by most. 

Checking in with Environment Canada Meteorologist, Kyle Fougere, he confirms it was a record-setting summer season. “Calgary did record its warmest summer in history, and it almost certainly extends to the Cochrane area. […] In the Cochrane area, there were 13 days this summer where the daytime record high was broken. With June being the month with the most with nine records set.”

The hottest temperature ever recorded in the Cochrane area, prior to this year, was 33.8 degrees Celsius on which was set on July 13, 2002.  This year, there were four days in a row, that broke that record from June 28 to July 1.  Fourgere says, “We now have a new record for the all-time hottest temperature which was 35.5 degrees Celsius which was set on July 1, 2021.

In July, Alberta saw a lot of smoke from the BC wildfires, and with that setting in Fourgere says the smoke, “Kept the morning temperatures really high we didn’t have the cooling we see at nighttime, so it was generally hot all around throughout the summer in the Cochrane area.”

So, how did Cochrane and area fare in the precipitation department? Fourgere says, “It was particularly dry to start the year, but it was wetter than normal August. So, when you look back at the summer it ended up, we did get about 70 per cent of the precipitation we would normally see in the area. So, that only made it about the 33rd driest summer on record.”

So, what can we expect for the fall season of 2021? Fourgere says, “The forecast is to be slightly above normal for the September, October, November periods and then for precipitation, we are expecting it to be about normal in the Cochrane area.”

Good news for fall and then hopefully Cochranite’s can rely on the memory of lazy, hazy days of summer 2021 to sustain them through upcoming winter.