CALGARY -- Summers in Calgary are nearly a week longer than they were 30 years ago, according to a new study conducted by an Alaskan climatologist.
Dr. Brian Brettschneider says the season has increased from from about 90 days to 96 days.
To produce the findings, Brettschneider examined the hottest and coldest 90 days of each year between 1960 and 1989 then compared those to the years between 1990 and 2019.
That number increased in the most recent 30 year cycle, with climate change being cited as one factor by Brettschneider.
His findings also showed the number of summer days increased more the closer a city was to the ocean.
“The range says from Calgary to Edmonton summers are only a couple days longer in most locations,” he said.
Another big factor is the Rocky Mountains.
“When we talk about Calgary and only gain five days of summer, compared to somewhere like Vancouver where that number will be much higher, it all comes down to, the Rockies are in the way and our landscape is less prone to change,” said CTV Calgary meteorologist Kevin Stanfield.
Stanfield says there are two main factors as to why we’re seeing more summer days: continentality and specific heat capacity.
“That is to say that water takes a lot longer to warm up than land does,” he said.
Gardening relies on consistent weather annually, with many gardeners trying to prolong planting season.
“When it comes to trees shrubs and perennials, actually quite late in July, into early August, into September, you can plant tress shrubs and perennials,” said Zoe Bahnmiller, greenhouse manager at Spruce It Up.
She adds that some planting can be done in late summer or early fall, and even into October, for bloom next year.
“Daffodils, tulips and a whole bunch of different kinds of botanical tulips and allium,” said Bahnmiller.
On average, summers have extended by about one week across Canada.
Honolulu was the U.S. city to see he most change when it came to summer weather, recording 38 additional days during the same time period.
While summer appears to be growing longer, Brettschneider says the number of cold days in winter is dwindling.
Brettschneider adds that the duration of winter conditions has shortened by an average of 15 days in Canada and the U.S.
For Calgary and southern Alberta, winter is about 70 days long compared to the previous 90 days.
Brettschneider says they were able to take data from 6,000 stations globally to conduct the analysis.
He adds that Calgary is in the "bullseye" of North America to see little to no change.
