The long range weather forecast for the NWT this summer is in. By the looks of it, there's a good chance for some rain and about a 50-50 split as to whether it'll be warmer than usual.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECC) released its long range forecasts at the end of April, both for the average temperature and precipitation levels for the country. When it comes to forecasting the former, for the NWT, there's about a 50 per cent chance of it being above normal during the months of June, July and August this year.
It's quite the step down from last year. ECC highlights sections of Canada in tints on a colour grade between white and red. Right now, the NWT is highlighted in orange and yellow tints to indicate it's at the midpoint.
Last year, almost all of Canada was covered in a dark red. That colour still exists for some parts of the country right now -- Newfoundland and Labrador seem to be in for some unusually high temperatures this summer.
For further comparison, according to Canada Weather Stats, the average temperature in Yellowknife in May of 2023 was 11.8 °C. This year though, it is 8.5 °C.
In terms of forecasting precipitation in the NWT, there's around a 70 per cent chance for an above normal amount of rain, also during those same three months. In fact, it looks like almost all of Canada can expect more rain than usual this summer.
That's a step up compared to last summer. For the NWT, ECC predicted the territory to have below normal levels of precipitation in 2023. And, according to Canada Weather Stats, the precipitation levels for the territory were rather low. July 2023 had 7.6 mm of rain and August 2023 2.6 mm of rain.
As for wildfires, there are 12 active fires currently burning in the NWT. There are no fires in the North Slave region, but the fire danger forecast for the region is high, according to the wildfire update page on the GNWT's website.