Pearl Lorentzen

Lakeside Leader

There is a lot of talk about climate change.

The Government of Canada’s Natural Resource Canada’s website says, “Canada is warming faster than the world as a whole — at more than twice the global rate — and the Canadian Arctic is warming at about three times the global rate.”

A glance through The Leader archive provides some local insight into what this change looks like, temperature-wise.

The August 10, 1978 Leader had weather information for July.

The Environment and Natural Resources branch of the Government of Canada has current and historic weather information at climate.weather.gc.ca. From 2011 to 2023, the weather has come from the Slave Lake airport Navigation Canada weather station. Other stations have provided weather information for the area since August 1922.

Comparing the two years, July 2023 was hotter and wetter than 1978.

In July 1978, Slave Lake received 71.9 mm of rain. In July 2023, Slave Lake received 102.4 mm of rain.

In July 1978, the mean (a type of average) temperature was 15.5°C. In July 2023, it was 17.1°C, which is 1.6°C hotter.

In July 1978, the mean minimum temperature was 9.7°C and the mean maximum was 21.2°C. In July 2023, the mean minimum temperature was 11.9°C and the mean high was 22.3°C.

In July 1978, the hottest temperature was 28.9°C on the 26th and the coldest was 4.1°C on eighth. In July 2023, the hottest temperature was 28.7°C on the ninth and the coldest was 6.2°C on the 28th.

It is interesting (although possibly not significant) that in 1978 the coldest day was early in the month and the hottest day was later in the month, but in 2023 this was reversed.

Data is also available from other weather stations as early as August 1922 on climate.weater.gc.ca. The website does not have information for July 1923 or 1924. It has August 1922 to June 1923, followed by a gap until October 1925.

In July 1925, it says, the mean temperature was 15.7°C, very similar to 1978.

In July 1925, the mean low was 8.8°C, which was colder than 1978. The mean high was 22.6°C, similar to 2023, which shows a greater variation in temperature. This is also shown by the coldest and hottest day.

In 1925, the coldest day was 2.2°C on July 5. The hottest was 28.9°C on July 31.

In July 1925, the total rainfall was 41.7 mm, which was drier than both 1978 and 2023.

Editor’s note: This is slightly anecdotal and not a scientific analysis of local weather conditions, which vary from year to year. However, the data suggests changes over time.