You guessed it: May was the hottest on record for much of Alberta, including Edmonton

The Prairies Climate Change Project is a joint initiative between CBC Edmonton and CBC Saskatchewan that focuses on weather and our changing climate. Meteorologist Christy Climenhaga brings her expert voice to the conversation to help explain weather phenomena and climate change and how they impact everyday life.

It's official — it was the hottest May on record for several parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and not by a small margin.

Edmonton was one of nine communities that broke records for May, with average temperatures close to six degrees above normal. 

Calgary saw its second hottest May on record, with average temperatures about 4.5 degrees above normal. 

And in Saskatchewan, North Battleford, La Ronge, Key Lake and Lloydminster broke temperature records this May.

"A lot of the places in Alberta have had records or data for over 100 years," said Natalie Hasell, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. 

"The fact that we're recording top warmest or second warmest in many places in the province for this past May, I think that is pretty significant."

After a cooler April in much of the province, temperatures took a U-turn to start May, with 30 C highs in many areas by the first of the month.

Hasell said the warm weather was brought in by blocking ridges in the upper atmosphere – large weather systems that cause prolonged periods of warm and dry conditions.

"Large numbers of places on the Prairies, even further north too for that matter, were flooded with very warm air from the south," she said.

On top of that, Hasell said the airflow came in from the west, which caused warming as that air moved down the mountain sides. 

"Not only did we have ridges centred in the States allowing this warm air to get to you, but also the flow allowing that air to warm up further as it came down … the side of the mountains."

And the pattern was repetitive, with these blocking ridges forming many times throughout the month, driving temperatures, and the fire risk up. 

On top of the heat, many areas in northern Alberta saw dry conditions for the last month, with Fort McMurray recording its second driest May on record. The community only received around 10 per cent of its usual May precipitation.