First day of summer marks change in weather for Lethbridge

LETHBRIDGE — Lethbridge was no stranger to rain this spring.

After an extremely dry winter, Lethbridge saw one of its wettest springs on record.

"It's been extremely wet. When you look at this spring, it's the 16th wettest, which is actually more notable with 163 millimetres of precipitation. 100 millimetres is what you usually get through those three months," said Alysa Pederson, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).

But with summer weather on the way, more people are heading outdoors.

The Henderson Outdoor Pool is expecting an influx of guests now that things are heating up.

"It's always a balancing act in the first month with our modified hours, school and the weather being kind of unpredictable. But we were definitely kind of rained out. But we made a recovery and we'll be good for the rest of the summer," said Hannah Tersteeg, assistant general manager of the Henderson Outdoor Pool.

Pools aren't the only outdoor activity expected to be busy.

Golf courses are ready to welcome golfers back and a wet spring also has them in great shape.

"Talking to turf maintenance, the guys who actually make this place operate, rain is good. Too much rain obviously scares golfers away but at the end of the day, we just did a big punch at the start of May, which requires a lot of TLC, some moisture and some sunlight," said Jae Maegaard, Paradise Canyon Golf Club head professional.

The summer weather appears to be sticking around in southern Alberta.

ECCC is forecasting a hotter,drier summer than average.

"It's a little bit of a change in the weather pretty much this weekend. We're looking at a ridge of high pressure coming in and more of those summery temperatures with your mid- to high 20s next week," Pederson said.

This weekend is shaping up to be the hottest of the year so far.

Sunday could get as hot as 30 C.