It'll feel like summer with temperatures edging toward 29 and 30C on the central Island later this week. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

getting hot

Heat to blast mid Island not expected to last: Environment Canada

Jun 18, 2024 | 5:48 AM

NANAIMO — A forecaster isn’t anticipating a brief heatwave is a sign we’re in for a long, hot summer.

Environment Canada meteorologist Brian Proctor said South Coast temperatures are slated to rise with daytime highs hitting the upper 20’s for Thursday and Friday on the east side of Vancouver Island.

However, he noted cooler weather will establish by the end of the weekend for the region.

“It’s trending warmer, as we start moving toward the end of the month, but in general we get a sort of transitory period of cool, warm, cool, maybe a little bit of warmth behind that before we really start warming up significantly.”

Proctor expects the Port Alberni area to be the Island’s hot spot with the mercury expected to hit 30 Celsius.

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By the end of the month, Proctor expects a ridge of high pressure will be established to generate stretches of summer-like weather through July and August.

However, he noted typical weather patterns are expected for the South Coast, pointing to no indications of El Nino circulating off the Pacific Ocean to trap hot air in the province for prolonged stretches again this summer.

“The El Nino really waned over the wintertime and it’s really almost completely gone at this point in time, I’m really seeing no evidence of it out there anymore. So, it’s looking like a much more typical or normal summer, it just looks so different from what we’ve experienced over the last few years.”

With conditions more seasonal so far this spring, Proctor expects the trend of average, less extreme weather is likely in store this summer.

He said hopefully another round of rain during the last two weeks of June will replenish the environment.

“We’ll see what those June numbers look like from a precipitation point of view, and what its affect it will have on try to sort of knock back those drought-like conditions we’ve had in the province, I think those numbers could be very interesting.”

The first day of summer is Thursday, June 20.

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Ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes