‘It’s been terrible’: Halifax businesses eager for warmer June weather

Chilly weather this month has not been warmly received by Maritimers.

The cold, wet June weather is causing concern for some Halifax-area business owners, who are wondering when it’s going to start feeling like summer.

“Basically, we were expecting a busy, busy season and the season started nice in May, but suddenly June has changed a lot,” said Mazen Mohamed of Mizo Drinks on the Halifax waterfront. “And the weather been raining for a long time now, so we were just hoping for next week to be nice.”

“It’s been terrible. Terrible. It’s very quiet. There are no people around, as you can see,” added Jess Lake from Caffe Lucca. “There’s no ship in today but usually it’s a lot busier on the waterfront.”

Luckily, Sail GP should turn the tides for tourism this weekend.

“We saw last time SailGP was here people still flocked to the waterfront,” said Mohamed. “SailGP is a big event that people come to see from many places in the world, and we’re looking for it, and this will be the first time for Mizo will be open for it. We are so excited.”

“Our nicer days are quite busy,” said Fitton. “We have SailGP coming up, so we’re kind of prepared for a busy week. And then usually come July, things pick up for us.”

The pool on the Halifax Mainland Common and all municipal splash pads opened in the Halifax area on Monday, though the chilly temperatures don’t exactly scream “pool day.”

“Going to be open all the way up until Sept. 15. So, tons of opportunities to come out and beat the heat in those hot summer days,” said Graeme Benjamin with the City of Halifax about the pool on the Halifax Common.

“It’s a great spot. If you want to get a little workout in. You can get a swim in in the morning. And we also have open swims as well, which is great to bring the family out. Bring your friends, get everybody together. It’s a great gathering spot right in the heart of downtown Halifax.”

Other pools in the region are set to open their doors in the coming weeks as well:

• Moncton’s Centennial Park Pool opens on June 20
• Fredericton’s Queen Square and Royal Road pools open on June 23
• Charlottetown’s Simmons Sports Centre Outdoor Pool opens on June 20 while the Victoria Park Pool opens on June 27.

As for when we might see some pool weather, said Chief Meteorologist Kalin Mitchell says it may not be this week.

“We’ve got a couple weather fronts that are moving through. It’s keeping things a little bit cloudy, a little bit cool, some periods of some showers, some drizzle, some fog around the Maritime region,” said Mitchell. “Not necessarily a bad thing though, to be getting some wet weather in the month of June, at the end of May. There were parts of the Maritimes that still finished abnormally dry or in drought conditions.

“So wet weather of course is certainly needed, but there will be some improvement moving through this week. We’re going to get behind this front on Monday. There’ll be more sunshine across the good portion of the Maritimes Tuesday Wednesday of this week. Temperatures coming up a little bit, so they’ll be sunnier a little bit of a warmer stretch.”

Looking ahead to the weekend, when SailGP is expected to bring thousands of spectators to Halifax, Mitchell says more rain is in the forecast.

“We do have some wet weather coming up at the end of this week,” warned Mitchell. “I know SailGP and that weekend forecast wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if it perked up a little bit. There’s a chance of showers Saturday and Sunday, and temperatures maybe a little bit below average for early June, so I wouldn’t mind seeing the trend for the weekend forecast, you know temperatures come up a little bit. Shower chances come down.”

But speaking with visitors from Scotland, California and Alberta on Monday, all were out and about, despite the weather dampening conditions.

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