Environment Canada says highs Sunday in southern Ontario, southern Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia could reach or exceed 30 degrees Celsius and possibly reach 40 degrees with humidity. Heat warnings and high humidity have been a theme this year, with some provinces and territories reporting record temperatures. Here are some of the heat records that have been reported so far this year:
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Along with a series of recent wildfires, British Columbia saw days of record temperatures across the province in late July. Preliminary figures show the province broke eight temperature records – some spanning decades – on July 31. Many of the records broken for that day were in Interior BC, with Osoyoos reaching 40C on July 31, breaking the city’s 2003 record of 39.6C. Other municipalities that broke records for July 31 include Cache Creek (40.5 C), Cranbrook (37.6 C), Lillooet (39 C), Nelson (39.4 C), Penticton (39 C), Summerland (38.7 C) and Trail (39.6 C) areas. Before that, preliminary data showed eight areas in the province recorded new high temperatures for July 29, including Cache Creek (41.2 C), Clinton (34.7 C), Kamloops (37.9 C), Lillooet (40.1 C), Lytton (42.2 C). ), Merritt (37.2 C), Nelson (38.6 C) and Trail (40 C). Fourteen records were either broken or tied on July 28, according to the first data from Environment Canada, some dating back to the 1930s. Lytton recorded a highest temperature of 41.1C on July 28, breaking a record set in 2009 at 40.6. The day before, the village BC broke the 1939 record of 40C, after recording a temperature of 42C. The new records for Lytton come on the heels of temperatures over 45C recorded in June 2021, the first time this has happened anywhere in Canada. The village would go on to set new all-time records in Canada that month, at one point recording a temperature of 49.6C. Osoyoos tied the 1996 record of 41.2C for July 28 this year. Meanwhile, new records for the day were set in Blue River (37 C), Clearwater (39.2 C), Clinton (34.5 C), Dawson Creek (32.5 C), Kelowna (38.7 C), Mackenzie (33.4 C), Penticton (37.9 C), Port Hardy (24.1 C), Princeton (38 C), Puntzi Mountain (34.2 C), Sparwood (33.1 C) and Vernon (37.8 C). Ten records were broken or tied on July 27, including Vancouver, which warmed to 30.4C, surpassing the 1998 record of 29.9C for that day. Lytton reached 42C that day, beating the 1939 record of 40C for July 27. The Bella Bella, Cache Creek, Clinton, Dawson Creek, Fort St. John, Mackenzie, Nelson and Puntzi Mountain also tied or broke their previous records. More than a dozen temperature records, some dating back to the late 1800s, were also broken or tied on July 26. Abbotsford broke the previous temperature record of 33.6C set in 1998 after recording 35.4C on July 26. Victoria broke the previous record of 30.5C, set in 2019, with a record of 31.5C. Agassiz, BC, tied its record of 35.6 C from 1899. Other municipalities that tied or broke their records for July 26 include Bella Bella (33.6 C), Cache Creek (37.5 C), Estevan Point (23.8 C), Gibsons (34.4 C), Hope (37.9 C), Malahat (33.2). C), Port Alberni (37.7 C), Prince Rupert (25.8 C), Sechelt (34.4 C), Squamish (37.1 C) and White Rock (31 C) areas.
THE REST
Environment Canada has issued heat warnings for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba throughout the spring and summer. On June 20, Manitoba broke 18 heat records, with the provincial capital of Winnipeg recording a temperature of 37C that day, surpassing the previous record set in 1888 at 33.3C. Coronach in southern Saskatchewan set a new heat record of 38.6C on August 4, breaking the previous record of 37.2C from 1964. This is on top of the strong gusts of wind the municipality saw that day, with speeds of up to 94 kilometers per hour.
ONTARIO
On May 31, the city of Toronto broke a decades-old heat record, recording a high of 32.1 C at Pearson International Airport, or 36 C with humidity. The previous record, dating back to 1944, was 31.1C. On June 21, the first day of summer, Windsor, Ont., recorded a temperature of 34.9 C at its local airport, surpassing the previous record for that day of 34.4 C in 2012. Back on March 6, the city of Ottawa saw its highest temperature for that day at 12.9 C, surpassing the previous record of 9.4 C set in 1974. The typical high for that time of year is closer to 0 C . More record temperatures for Ottawa are to come in May, with the city seeing its warmest May 11 on record at 27 C, surpassing the previous record of 26.8 C for that day in 2001. The records continued on May 12 when the temperature reached 29.7C, surpassing the previous record of 27.6C set on that day in 1992. The following day, May 13, the temperature reached a record high of 29.8C, surpassing the previous mark of 28.2C set on that day in 1985.
QUEBEC, ATLANTIC PROVINCES AND THE TERRITORIES
The temperature in Montreal was expected to reach 31 degrees Celsius on May 12, which would set a new record for that day. Data from Environment Canada shows the temperature reached 30.3 C, the hottest May 12 on record since at least 2013. Prince Edward Island is also among the Atlantic provinces under extended heat warnings this weekend. And on July 5, a heat wave broke records in the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Temperatures hovered near 30C across large areas of the land, with records being broken in areas above the Arctic Circle, including Inuvik, NWT. The temperature reached 31.8C there, breaking the previous record of 29.5C set in 1998. On July 4, Carmacks, located between Whitehorse and Dawson City, Yukon, reached 31.8C, almost three degrees higher than the record set in 2021. With files from CTV News and The Canadian Press
