Thursday will be the 17th day of May with rain

Amid concerns of drought and an early wildfire season, much-needed rain is continuing to be a part of the weather story in Calgary.

May is typically the fourth wettest month of the year in Calgary with an average of 56.8 millimetres of precipitation.

June is the wettest month with 94 millimetres, followed by July at 65.5 millimetres and August at 57 millimetres.

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), as of May 22, 2024 Calgary had measured 45.5 millimetres of precipitation at YYC International (the publicly-available weather station data published by ECCC).

These cooler temperatures and recent precipitation have been helpful for replenishing moisture in the soil and alleviating short-term drought conditions. The rain and rain/snow in the Rockies have also helped boost moisture content that will eventually head into local river systems.

The wildfire danger risk is also lower, with most of Alberta showing a low risk as of May 23, 2024 and northern Alberta mostly rating between a moderate to high risk.

The fire danger relative index on May 23, 2024. The rating is based on the likelihood of a wildfire to ignite, the difficulty of extinguishing a fire if one does start and the amount of damage that could be done.

Thursday will still be a bit cooler with a daytime high more than six degrees below average. Temperatures will hover in the mid-teens over the weekend and briefly foray into the 20s early next week.

Rain is expected to be intermittent but mostly light in Calgary on Thursday with the potential for some isolated thunderstorms. The cold low complex in southern Saskatchewan along with an intensifying Montana low will create some instability and possibly enough lift for thunderstorms to develop.

That same setup is likely to bring intense rainfall totals into Manitoba with up to 50 millimetres of rain possible in the southern regions.

The Montana low will combine with some warm and moist air coming up from the Gulf which have elevated the risk for some very severe storms across the Midwest over the next couple of days.