Province-wide manhunt underway as police search for 'summer'

Wednesday, July 22, 2015, 12:56 PM - At least they can joke about it.

Newfoundland's summer has made a dismal showing so far, occasionally being as much as 10 degrees below last year's scorcher of a season. Now it's reached such depths the police are getting involved, with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary "seeking assistance from the general public in locating the missing season of SUMMER."

"When last seen, SUMMER was described as being between 20-30 degrees Celsius, blue skies with a bright and warm source of light in the sky," the RNC said on Twitter. "There have been sporadic sightings of this bright object, but these sightings have been rare since May 2015."

The boys in blue aren't shying away from naming names, identifying CBC meteorologist Ryan Snoddon and NTV forecaster Eddie Sheerr as "persons of interest" in the case.

Even police chief William Janes is on the hunt, travelling abroad in what we presume is a steely-eyed search for the AWOL season.

If you're wondering whether we at The Weather Network feel left out of the RNC's investigation, you needn't: Our East Coast reporter Nathan Coleman has already had his run in with the law for weather-related seasons:

As for Sheerr and Snoddon, they appear to be discovering that, on a cold day, the weatherman has no friends.

The RNC has raised a few eyebrows about their tongue-in-cheek post, but for the most part, it's being seen as all in good fun.

Joking apart, Newfoundlanders have plenty to be peeved about this season, which compares very unfavourably to last year.

"With only two days in July of 2014 dipping BELOW 20^oC and the average daytime high a balmy 25.3^oC, this July’s daytime high is running almost 10 degrees cooler with only five days OVER 20^oC," Weather Network meteorologist Erin Wenckstern says. "Neat fact: The average daytime high of 25.3^oC in July of 2014 is in contrast to the extreme high of 25.3^oC reached in July 2015 so far."

The cold temperatures aren't just a nuisance, they've also been bad for business.

The CBC reports businesses like ice cream shops, green houses and bars with outdoor patios have struggled to make headway in this cold season, and some tour boats have have had to cancel cruises occasionally due to the conditions. The bad weather has also disrupted flights into and off the island this week.

We'll see how the rest of the season shapes up, but July is almost a write-off. Wenckstern says St. John's average temperature as of July 21 was 12.7^oC, about three degrees off from seasonal, tying it with 1944 as the third coldest July on record.

"With over a week remaining in the month, there is still time to fluctuate in this standing, but conditions don’t look to be drastically improving," Wenckstern says.

SOURCE: The Weather Network | CBC