Get ready for some heat

With Hurricane Emily slashing her fury on places such as Cancun, the thoughts turn to something few of us can do little about -- the weather.
However, one thing that has changed since the Ol' Columnist was a young 'un, and that's the accuracy of the forecasts. Someone in your family, I'm sure, always had a comment about the "predictions." "They never get it right," mumbled Grandpa as snowflurries battered the window panes instead of rain drops. Then he always followed it up with "See, I told you, they always get it wrong."
However, such is not the case anymore.
In fact, the weather has become one of the most popular subject on both sides of the border and even on the Internet, it's the hottest subject of the day. If you're interested, and I know you are, then go to either www.theweathernetwork.com/ or www.weather.com/ and check what's in store.
Yesterday, with the sun beating down on the Ol' Homestead, I decided to scurry around the www.theweathernetwork.com/ site and checked in with meteorologist Lloyd Butler, to find out what we can expect in British Columbia and beyond.
The following are Butler's words: "After a cool start to the summer, western and southern sections of British Columbia can expect above average temperatures for the rest of the season thanks to warm waters in the Gulf of Alaska, which are also helping to keep large portions of Nunavut and Yukon warmer than usual ... As the summer continues, the southern coast of British Columbia should also see the weather dry out. Overall though, precipitation totals are expected to be near normal. Elsewhere, in the province, some areas can expect to end the summer with higher than normal precipitation as a result of the rain received during the month of June. Meantime, residents of the southern interior will look back on the summer of 2005 as a dry one overall."
So, Weatherman Lloyd seems to believe Vernon and area is in for a hot, dry spell.
Let's hope, it's not close to what has happened in Ontario and western Quebec. The coroner's office in Toronto, according to a CBC News indepth story on heat waves, identified three heat-related deaths so far.
The story went on to say that June 2005 was "also a bad month for heat-related deaths in other parts of the world. In Italy, heat killed at least 18 people. In Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, officials say more than 500 people died from it in May and June."
As some of you know, the Ol' Columnist once lived and toiled in the Toronto area and that's one place I wouldn't want to return to -- at least not just right now.
Canada's biggest city has been going through the throes of a sizzling summer. In the past, the average -- including daytime and nightime temperatures -- was 17.9 Celsius for June. However, last month, it zoomed to 22.5C. Since I haven't been able to figure Celsius and Fahrenheit, all I know is this Ol' Coot would rather go to somewhere where it's cooler and away from those kind of temperatures.
Environment Canada meteorologist Peter Kimbell had these words: "We've smashed the normal temperature by almost five degrees. It's a significant record. The previous record was 21.7 C in 1949."
In the same CBC story, Kimbell warned that June's hot weather may extend throughout the summer. "We are forecasting the temperature to be above average for June, July and August. But you have to take that with a grain of salt because of our record. Three-month forecasts are very difficult to do," he said, in the report.
While the Okanagan groaned about steamy weather yesterday, Toronto and the Windsor area suffered through another extreme heat alert. In fact, it was the eighth straight day that T.O. boiled in Hades-like temperatures, hitting in the 33 C range.
Ouch! Ouch!
So what does the forecast mean for other parts of Canada? According to the CBC News report, there's more rain in store for the already drenched Prairies, who have suffered 50 per cent more than usual this year. For Ontario, the heat wave is expected to slowly fade and rain will become the norm except in southwestern Ontario, where it will continue to be dry. Quebec, where serious fires are now burning, will get cooler and in the Maritimes, it has been cool, but in the next few days it's expected to warm up.
And what about the Okanagan? Well, Bunky, get ready for some heat.
As for me, I'll have the air conditioner on full blast.

TIME TO COOL DOWN: From Uncle John's Bathroom Reader comes the story of popsicles. It seems 11-year-old Frank Epperson accidentally left a mixture of powdered soda mix and water on his back porch one winter night in 1905. The next morning, he found the stuff frozen, with the stirring stick standing straight up in the jar. He pulled it out, and had the first "Epperson icicle" -- or "Epsicle." He later named it "Popsicle," since he'd made it with soda pop. It was patented in 1923, 18 years later.