Looming Sask. heatwave set to send temperatures soaring

REGINA -

Temperatures will top out at just below seasonal with unsettled and rainy conditions through southern Saskatchewan on Thursday. However when you look past today, you see we’re in for an impending heatwave.

That’s right! It is getting hot, hot, hot!

Starting Friday, conditions start to clear up a little as a ridge of high pressure, or what’s better described as a “heat dome,” makes its way into western Canada. This looks to bring the highest temperatures to British Columbia and southern Alberta for the weekend and week ahead, but it also going to push temperatures into the low and mid 30s for southern Saskatchewan for the better part of next week.

Environment and Climate Change Canada are calling this a “dangerous and historic” heatwave.

Basically, this type of upper atmosphere pattern brings hot air that gets trapped under a “dome,” meaning that even the overnight temperatures won’t offer much relief, dropping only back down to around 16-18 degrees Celsius for most communities including Swift Current, Saskatoon and Regina.

The hottest daytime highs look to be in the province Monday to Thursday of next week, which means we expect a prolonged period of extreme heat.

This heatwave is likely to trigger a period of extreme heat warnings for Saskatchewan as these warnings are already in effect for other areas of western Canada including most of British Columbia.

The threshold for these warnings in the province is two days of temperatures over 29 degrees Celsius for northern communities with lows over 14 degrees, or two days over 32 degrees Celsius for southern Saskatchewan with lows over 16 degrees.

Now, it’s not all sunshine on the way either. A few showers and storms look to stretch through southern and eastern communities on Saturday, bringing the risk of isolated thunderstorms to Regina, Prince Albert and Saskatoon. The same thing is true on Tuesday. So, expect a few bursts of unsettled conditions mixed in with all the heat.

But, the heat is the thing we are worried about since it requires people to be cautious and monitor for signs of heat related illness.Temperatures above 30 degrees require increased hydration, as well as shelter.

So that means always monitor how you are feeling when you are outside, avoid strenuous activities in the heat, seek air conditioning when possible and drink all the water!

Also, we are likely to see an increase in fire risk, so as we head towards the start of July, just make sure you are being fire safe out there when it comes to campfires, fireworks and ATVs especially.

As I said before, it is being called a historic heatwave and that means it is also likely that many daily temperature records will fall next week in southern and western Saskatchewan. As for all-time records, the highest temperatures ever recorded in Canada were on July 5, 1937, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada when both Midale and Yellowgrass, Saskatchewan soared above 45 degrees Celsius.

These records may be in jeopardy as the mercury rises in British Columbia over the next week – meaning we might lose that title – even though it is getting hot, hot, hot here too, but right now it doesn’t look like we will get as hot as the provinces to our west.