WINNIPEG — The city is in the midst of very warm weather. It’s so hot, Environment Canada issued a heat warning for southern Manitoba.
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So hot, a section of asphalt and pavement on Portage Avenue near Rutland Street heaved and was pushed onto the sidewalk. A city spokesperson says it’s caused by the extreme heat and the weight of vehicles passing by.
Winnipeggers tried beating the heat but even in the shade it was hot.
An afternoon yoga session in Memorial Park was moved into the shade while air conditioning companies couldn’t keep up with calls for service.
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“No cooling, my air condition is not working, it stopped working or its freezing up,” are some of the calls Sherri Grabowski at Tradesman Heating & Air Conditioning has received, “its mainly problematic for those who don’t do regular maintenance on their air conditioners.”
Despite the scorching heat, businesses that rely on warm summer days, aren’t seeing the attendance numbers they expected.
Fun Mountain’s Owner, Tanya Hall, says people seem to stay at home when temperatures reach 30 degrees or higher, or when they know a storm is on the way.
“We’re having a little bit of a slower day because they’re saying heat wave and possibility of a storm so our best days are lots of heat no storms,” said Hall.
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It’s even too hot for Crystal Wingman, who’s from Nashville and spent the day at Fun Mountain to cool off.
“I was a little shocked,” said Wingman, “I thought I was leaving that. Every summer in July we get away from the Nashville heat but it was just equally hot yesterday and today so I guess I brought it with me.”
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But with the heat comes unsettled weather, according to weather specialist Jay Anderson.
“It’s been a little stormier than usual,” said Anderson, “we tend to treat 31 as a really hot temperature but in fact in Manitoba 36 is a really hot temperature we’d have to get into 40 to get a record setting temperature so we’ve been getting it a little easy probably.”
Anderson says a disturbance is moving into Southwestern Manitoba which could bring severe weather Monday evening and Tuesday morning. There is also a chance to see the development of a tornado.
Anderson says Winnipeg will likely only see heavy rain.
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