People in Revelstoke often notice that the Environment Canada temperature given is different than the actual heat experienced, especially in the summer months. The Environment Canada temperature is usually five to ten degrees lower than temperatures recorded in other parts of town.

Environment Canada temperatures are often at the airport, says Armel Castellan, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, based in Victoria. The setting of Revelstoke's means that more than other places in the province, there is that temperature difference. This is because the airport is next to the Columbia River flats, and the water and wind in that area causes a cooling affect in the summer.

Castellan pointed out that Vancouver's Environment Canada temperatures are also affected by water, in this case the delta of the Fraser River where it enters the Salish Sea in Richmond.

To establish heat warnings and forecasts, Castellan says meteorologists manually adjust the temperature. "What we can do is course correct in the forecasts for temperatures that are likely higher in town," he said. Then they use computer models to "kind of run out the week, because we forecast out seven days in order to capture what is coming," he said.

Given that the climate is changing and temperatures are more extreme than they used to be, Castellan said it would be nice to be able to capture the actual temperature people experience, instead of having to estimate.

"The reality is, stations are not everywhere, in a place as big as Canada," he said.

Revelstoke's summer forecast

Castellan also predicted what can be expected in Revelstoke for the next few months.

He says it's expected to be hotter than average. The probability for this is highest in northern B.C., which is where the drought is the worst, and where fires have been burning since mid-April.

"The answer is unfortunately ubiquitous across many ... meteorological models internationally ... everyone is speaking from the same song sheet ... we can see that across Canada and including B.C., including the interior, we have very high probabilities of seeing temperatures that will stay above the seasonal category."

The likelihood of seeing higher than average temperatures in the Revelstoke region is in the 70 to 80 per cent probability. "Which is extremely high still," Castellan said.

CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN TO A FULL INTERVIEW WITH ARMEL CASTELLAN