A historically wet summer in Edmonton has changed the course of golfing season in the city and can be a cause for people’s cloudy moods.
Environment Canada says last month was the seventh wettest July the city has seen in 138 years. A total of 163 mm of rain dampened the city, a total for July that was 74 per cent higher than the 93.8 mm of rain seen on average, said meteorologist Dan Kulak.
“Twenty days out of 31 days in July, it rained,” Kulak said, adding that Edmonton is passing its peak summer season, which comes during the end of July and early August.
“The days are starting to get shorter and the nights are getting longer. The opportunity [for a summer] is starting to diminish,” Kulak said.
The weather agency is forecasting a 30 per cent chance of showers on Friday, with cloudy periods and chance of showers continuing into the weekend.
Golf season off course
Though summer is slipping away, head golf professional at Victoria Golf Course Kevin Hogan says he’s not going to let rain put him in the rough.
Hogan has been working with the golf course since 1994 and says he’s trying his best to get out on the course, but others may not be doing the same.
“Our attendance is lower than last year at this point in time,” Hogan told the CBC.
“I don’t remember a summer as different as this one, where we’ve had all sorts of weather … golf-ball sized hail, shower that comes in, lasts 20 minutes and then it’s beautiful out.”
Like Hogan, the head golf professional at Riverside Golf, Ken Ingoldsby, is also reporting a lower turnout at his course.
“Turnout has been good on sunny days, on the rainy days … not as busy,” Ingoldsby said.
In comparison to the previous summers he has seen over his 29 years at the course, Ingoldsby says they’ve had several days this year where the course has been closed.
But, rain or shine, golfers are going to golf. Hogan has been on the course despite the unpredictable weather.
“There’s so many golf days left that if you don’t play in the rain, you might not play. It’s gotten so ridiculous that it’s water off a duck’s back now … literally. We are encouraging golfers to come out and enjoy the course even if the forecast says there is a slight chance of rain, because, as we know, this also means there is a chance it won’t rain at all.”
Rain also dampening moods
With so much rain, and so little sun, experts say it’s normal to feel symptoms of depression and low energy, as some Edmontonians are reporting.
“As a clinician, many of my patients who have the more classical seasonal depression during winter do get temporarily depressed if there’s a prolonged period without light,” said Robert Levitan, a professor of psychiatry at University of Toronto and a senior scientist at the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute.
That same idea can be applied to rainy weather during the summer.
Along with low light, Levitan says lack of activity may disrupt sleep rhythms and get people into a less healthy lifestyle.
“If it’s raining, you’re indoors more, you’re less active, which can have an indirect effect on your physical and mental health if you’re typically active during the summer time.”
The best way to beat the blues is to maintain your active lifestyle, rain or shine, Levitan says.