New Brunswick on track to set record June rainfall

Senior Environment Canada climatologist still predicting warmer than normal summer

CBC News

Posted: Jun 13, 2013 1:10 PM AT

Last Updated: Jun 13, 2013 12:52 PM AT

New Brunswick is on track to set a record for the amount of rainfall in June, according to Environment Canada's senior climatologist.
But David Phillips says that's not necessarily a sign of what's to come this summer.

"If I was ordering this kind of weather, I'd always want it in June, not July and August," he said.

 

"So maybe you're getting your bad news out of the way because hey, school's still in, vacation hasn't started and this kind of tormenting, monotonous kind of weather you don't want it in July and August when people are renting cottages or having some vacation time."

Phillips said he is still predicting a warmer than normal summer with warmer than normal water temperatures.

There will be more rain to contend with first though, he said.

Heavy rain has already caused flooding and power outages across the province in recent weeks.
Fredericton, for example, has seen 180 millimetres of precipitation so far this month — about two-and-a-half times the average June rainfall, said Phillips.

And of the past 24 days, 19 of them have been wet in the capital, he said.
Phillips said he believes the long stretch of wet weather in the province could be the result of temperatures warming in the north. Weather systems seem to stick around longer than they used to, he said.

"The fact that we're seeing this contrast is not as great, makes the jet stream, rather than kind of west to east, more like a roller-coaster, more of an up and down, north and south.

"And some have suggested this is possibly what's causing the kind of slow motion kind of weather that we've been seeing, which is not a good thing."