Dry, hot weather in Nova Scotia sparks concern over another dry summer season

People rest on chairs on the Halifax Waterfront in Halifax. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

HALIFAX - Sunny skies and warm temperatures across Nova Scotia are providing enjoyable weather conditions following a long, tough winter.

“We had a decent amount of rain to start the spring, but we are into a bit of a dry pattern now,” said CTV Atlantic chief meteorologist Kalin Mitchell, who added these conditions come at a time when the province could still use some heavy rainfall as it recovers from last year’s drought. “It’s going to take several months of above average rainfall amounts to recover from those conditions.”

Nine months ago, the suburban area of Halifax near Bayers Lake was under wildfire watch, with some homes and businesses evacuated.

According to wildfire evacuee Lawrence Conrad, a sunny week in May is a reminder of his experience last year. He’s learned to be careful when it comes to burning during hot and dry weather.

“If we have a harsh, dry summer like we had last year, fires aren’t our only concern,” said Conrad, who is also watching his dug well water levels and adding extra caution to his burning habits.

“When it gets hot like this, the first thing I think of is to make sure that I don’t have any fires on the properties I own,” he said. “I think overall people are diligent because of what we went through last year.”

Last August in Annapolis County Nova Scotia, 20 homes were destroyed and many properties were damaged when a massive out-of-control wildfire burned more than 85 square kilometres.

As a sunny dry weather trend settles in on the province, emergency management officials have a message for everyone, especially those who live in rural areas of Nova Scotia.

“Not to burn by all means and that is something we should be checking in on every day,” said Kings County Emergency Management Organization (EMO) co-ordinator, Craig Gibson. “The main thing is about safety for the public, with regards to what happened last year, and we certainly don’t want to see something like that happen again.

Looking ahead to possible weather trends, Mitchell said there are long-term forecast models for the next few months, that show below normal levels of rain for Nova Scotia with above average temperatures.

If that forecast proves to be true, it will likely cause even more concern for people who live in Nova Scotia, as they worry the summer 2026 could be a dry season, just like last year.