Already under a crushing heat warning, people in Toronto have been told to prepare for thunderstorms, which could bring torrential rain and hailstones with them.
Just before 5 p.m. on Thursday, Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the city, predicting potentially intense thunderstorms later in the evening.
“Conditions are favourable for the development of severe thunderstorms that may be capable of producing strong wind gusts, large hail and heavy rain,” it read.
Winds could reach as fast as 90 km/h, according to the agency, with torrential rain reaching as much as 50 mm. Hailstones could be nickel-sized if the full force of the storms materializes.
“When thunder roars, go indoors,” another part of the thunderstorm watch read. “Lightning kills and injures Canadians every year. Don’t drive through flooded roadways.”
The storms could briefly break the oppressive heat which has hung over Toronto, making it feel like more than 40 C for parts of the day when humidity is taken into account.
The current heat stretch is the latest this summer, and extreme heat reaching the mid-30s broke temperature records in many parts of the province last month.
— with a file from The Canadian Press