Hot, dry summer in Alberta, Environment Canada forecasts

From a long, cold winter to a hot, dry summer.

Environment Canada's long-term forecast for May, June and July calls for conditions that are hotter and drier than usual across much of southern Alberta.

And while that's good news for outdoor enthusiasts, the forecast has some farmers wondering about the growing season.

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Meteorologist Brian Proctor says this follows a spring trend.

"Really the province as a whole is looking quite dry as we move forward through the season," he said.

"If we look back at how everyone was hoping in early April, we wanted to get out of the cold, sort of doldrums we were in, well we definitely got out of it and we got out of it very, very quickly."

And Proctor says they're projecting a 60 to 70 per cent chance of higher than normal temperatures across much of the province.

That's much different than the winter Alberta just experienced, which saw extended periods of bitter cold and nearly double the normal amount of snow in some regions in the first weeks of February.

And it's already been a dry spring.

"Really, in the last 30 days we're looking at less than 40 per cent of normal precipitation throughout a swatch from basically Grande Prairie east to Edmonton then down to Calgary," he said.

"The only areas that have had close to normal precipitation have been areas west of Calgary on the foothills. It's very, very dry."

Greg Hawkwood farms north of Calgary.He says some of the subsoil moisture that helped farmers last year hasn't been replenished anda lack of rain will affect crops and cattle operations.

But he adds nobody is writing off the season just yet.

"I'm concerned right now. Worried? No. Because we're still in May and we still got June, and June is always typically our wet month," he said.

"And if we can get our moisture in June, I think we'll be OK for crops. It will help."

Environment Canada also stresses long-term forecasts aren't always accurate, especially when it comes to precipitation.

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