Environment Canada’s heat warning is continuing, seven days after it was first issued, with even higher temperatures expected for the rest of the week.
The heat warning has also now expanded to include all of southern Ontario, with the exception of the northern Kawarthas region (including Haliburton and Hastings counties).
In the greater Kawarthas region, the highest temperatures will be in Peterborough and Kawartha Lakes.
Daytime temperatures will reach 34°C on Tuesday (July 7) and Wednesday, 33°C on Thursday, and 32°C on Friday.
However, humidex values will make the temperatures feel more like 39°C on Tuesday and Wednesday.
There is also a risk of thunderstorms in the afternoon of both days.
Overnight temperatures will remain at 20°C, providing little relief from the heat.
A slightly cooler air mass may move into the area on Saturday (July 11), bringing rain and temperatures in the mid to high twenties.
However, Environment Canada states there is “considerable uncertainty” about the system moving in by the weekend.
Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips predicts that July’s first heat wave is a “dress rehearsal” for the rest of the summer, which he says will be hotter and dryer than normal according to the agency’s seasonal forecast.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting that 2020 may be the hottest year ever recorded, and will almost certainly rank among the five warmest years on record.
April 2020 was the planet’s second hottest April since record keeping began in 1880 and May 2020 was the hottest May on record. June 2020 is tied with June 2019 for the hottest June on record.
