The Weather Network projects warmer, drier Western Canada — Canada Summer Forecast 2026
The Weather Network released its canada summer forecast 2026 on Wednesday, projecting a warmer and drier summer in Western Canada for June, July and August. Doug Gillham, the network’s senior meteorologist, said the season is unlikely to settle into one steady pattern in Central and Eastern Canada.
The forecast points to the clearest heat signal in western Canada, where British Columbia could be significantly warmer than normal. Gillham said Western Canada faces a huge concern over wildfire and smoke risk, and added: “The ingredients are in place for a concerning wildfire season.”
Western Canada and the Prairies
Much of the Prairies is set to be drier than normal, especially in the first half of the summer. Warmer-than-normal temperatures are expected to be concentrated in western Alberta and western Saskatchewan, while the British Columbia Interior carries the sharpest risk if the hotter, drier pattern holds.
Gillham said, “In terms of locking into a consistently hot, dry pattern... we just don’t expect that to be the theme of the season.” He also said, “The global pattern is in a state of flux, and that’s why it’s more difficult to lock into a pattern,” tying the forecast to the transition to El Nino.
Ontario and Eastern Canada
Parts of Central and Eastern Canada may tip to the colder side of normal, which makes the summer outlook less uniform outside the west. Ontario is likely to tip to the cool side of normal in July and August, even as the warm start to the season could spread into northern Ontario.
June is typically the wettest month of the year and sets the foundation for the agricultural regions, which makes the early-summer dryness in the Prairies the part of the forecast most likely to be watched closely. In British Columbia, the forecast also suggests a more normal transition to fall could be in the works, with the heat not expected to stick around deep into September.
El Nino and summer pattern
The Weather Network tied the forecast to a shift from La Nina to a potentially historic El Nino, a transition it said could make hot and dry weather harder to lock in across some regions. For readers in the West, the immediate takeaway is clear: the stronger concern is not a uniform summer long on heat, but a season where wildfire and smoke risk rises whenever dry stretches line up with warmer-than-normal conditions.
