Stock up on that sunscreen and keep the garden hose handy.

Warmer-than-normal temperatures are on the way across the country and it's going to dry up out West, according to Environment Canada's forecast for the next month.

That comes as especially good news in Alberta and British Columbia, where cloud and rain has put a damper on summer so far.

"It's been a very gloomy time," said David Phillips, Environment Canada's senior climatologist.

Most of the West is in for drier-than-normal conditions through mid-August, said Phillips.

"If anyone deserves some good weather it's British Columbia and Alberta, they've been clearly short-changed," he said. "We've reached the midway point and they haven't had any summer yet. They had a miserable winter and a miserable spring."

Meanwhile, parched southern Ontario will finally see some precipitation, with normal amounts of rain in the forecast. It's a similar outlook for Quebec and the Maritimes, but Newfoundland and Labrador will see below-normal precipitation, said Phillips.

Ontario, like the rest of the country, had one of the wettest springs on record, but is now seeing one of its driest summers.

"Nature has almost looked at the calendar and when summer arrived, just turned the faucet off," said Phillips. "We've had very little cloud, no moisture to speak of and we're now into a three-week (period of) almost a drought.

"Clearly it's dry."

Phillips likened lawns in southern Ontario to Rice Krispies that ''snap, crackle and pop as you walk on them."

"And just a short six weeks ago it was a lush green that had never been better looking," he said.

It's so dry in Toronto that the city has recorded a mere six millimetres of rain since the start of summer three weeks ago, far less than the norm of around 50 millimetres. A year ago, some 120 millimetres of rain fell in Toronto during the same period.

Toronto has also had eight days above 30 degrees so far this summer when the city usually sees six days above that mark during the same stretch.

It's been a similar story across most of the province, said Phillips. In London, Ont., only 9.5 millimetres of rain has fallen over the past three weeks.

"It's been one dry moment," he said.

Phillips said the only exception in the region has been Windsor, which has been well watered.

"In Ontario we need the rain here and all we're looking at is near normal," said Phillips.

Even though they may not look like it, trees are under stress from the lack of rain and need to be watered, said Phillips. All the rain that fell in the spring has evaporated or gone into the rivers and lakes and is no longer in the soil, he explained.

On the bright side, Phillips said Ontario has seen few smog days. Reduced use of fossil fuels, stronger winds and no extended stretches of extremely hot days, could be among the contributing factors, Phillips said.