After Canadians experienced the hottest summer on record last year, the latest long-range forecast from Environment Canada is calling for temperatures this year to still be on the warm side, but closer to normal.
While it will still be a warmer-than-normal June, July and August in most of the country, temperatures aren't expected to reach the sweltering levels of 2012, said Environment Canada senior climatologist Dave Phillips.
- Scroll down for a map detailing regions that are expected to experience warmer-than-normal temperatures.
B.C., Alberta and the northern Prairies are expected to see temperatures that are above normal, while the southern regions of the Prairie provinces will experience normal or even-cooler-than-normal temperatures, Phillips told CTV News Channel.
And from Ontario's Ottawa Valley eastward through the Maritime provinces to Newfoundland and Labrador, temperatures are expected to be warmer than normal.
South of the Ottawa Valley in Ontario, most areas are expected to see temperatures "hinting on warmer than normal but closer to more seasonable conditions that we might expect," Phillips said.
However, he added that the forecast is meant to be taken in general terms and doesn't touch on extreme weather events that inevitably occur.
Phillips pointed out that Canada receives about three million lightning strikes per year and is the second most tornado-prone country in the world.
"Most areas of Canada should enjoy a warmer to warmer than normal summer but it says nothing about severe weather -- and it clearly could be wild times. We know there is a higher likelihood of hurricanes this year," he said, noting that warmer weather is considered a "fuel" for storm systems.
B.C. is also expected to experience a drier than normal summer, increasing the risk of forest fires and making water management a priority for residents, he said.
Canada's high Arctic region is expected to see normal temperatures over June, July and August.
Last month, meteorologists at AccuWeather.com issued a similar forecast, saying the majority of Canadians can look forward to a more "typical" summer this year, when hot spells will be interspersed with cooler periods.
"The biggest takeaway from this forecast is it's not going to resemble last year's summer, which was the warmest summer on record for Canada," Brett Anderson, lead forecaster for Canada, told The Canadian Press.
"We're going to see much more changeable weather. Yes, we will have spells of heat, we will have spells of very dry weather but we do not expect patterns where it's going to lock in for weeks on end of hot dry weather."
The following communities are expected to experience warmer-than-normal temperatures in June, July and August according to Environment Canada:
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