Warmer-than-normal summer could exacerbate wildfire risk: Environment Canada [Video]

Canada is expected to see a warmer-than-normal summer with uncertain precipitation levels in most provinces, based on Environment and Climate Change Canada’s summer forecast.

Jennifer Smith, a warning preparedness meteorologist, said Tuesday that Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario and northern Manitoba are especially likely — 100 per cent in some areas — to see a hotter summer, though the odds are high for the rest of the country, too.

“There are a couple of cooler spots, most prominently along the Beaufort Sea in northwestern Canada, but over all the forecast leans toward a warmer summer across the country,” Smith said.

Statistically, she said the above-average warmth may be skewed by extreme short-term heat waves.

But in other cases, “it could be recurring short warm spells or just a subtle, consistent warmth that pushes seasonal averages up enough to nudge the stats.”

An early-season hot spell has already resulted in several new …