It may be fall, but it sure doesn’t feel like it.
London broke an Environment Canada record set back in 1958 when temperatures peaked at 26.7 degrees.
London hit 32.2 on Saturday and 32.4, smashing the high of 28.3 that stood for both days for decades.
The weather record broken on Monday dates from 1958 and comes from an older weather data set that Environment Canada recorded at London’s airport between 1940 and 2002. When the agency’s weather station was moved in 2002 to a new location nearby, a new data set spanning 2002 to the present was created.
A heat warning from Environment Canada and a heat alert from the Middlesex-London Health Unit remain in effect for the London region Monday.
As the heat wave continues, the health unit is reminding Londoners to take precautions and drink plenty of water.
“A lot of physical exertion during the high temperatures, the sun itself is going to be dangerous to potential skin cancers with UV ratings that are going to be high. Heat exhaustion is something that is readily experienced by most people,” said Randy Walker public health inspector with the health unit.
Officials remind Londoners to not leave children or pets alone in a parked vehicle. Outdoor workers should take regularly scheduled breaks in a cool place.
Extreme heat affects everyone but the risks are greater for young children, pregnant women, older adults, people with chronic illnesses and people working or exercising outdoors.
“Dress according is really important. Make sure you take a nice wide brimmed hat, sunglasses will protect your eyes but also keep a lot of the sun off of your face, use sun screen liberally,” said Walker.
“It makes me a little concerned in the environmental area,” said Evan Spindler, worried about the late timing of the heat spell, and what it says about the planet.
“But besides that, I’m trying to enjoy it. It makes it kind of hard to exist in my house though, because it was built in 1864 and sometimes they don’t have the best airflow and whatnot. So it can get a little sticky at night.”
Adele Barker also finds it hard to beat the heat. She moved to Canada from the U.K. about a year ago, and isn’t used to Canada’s polarizing climate yet.
“Usually it gets to 20 degrees back home, that’s like the hottest — that’s like a heat wave back home. So like 30 is really pushing it, and I feel so exhausted. The heat just really exhausts you all the time.”
Jonathon Ferreira, on the other hand, is less concerned about beating the heat. But he said he’s anxious to try out his new fall wardrobe.
“Honestly, I’m ready for the cold weather. But then when the cold weather comes, I’m going to be like ‘I’m ready for the hot weather.’ I feel like just like a Canadian thing right, we’re like ‘unpleaseable’ with our weather.”
Environment Canada actually has two different sets of records for London, distinguished by a change in the location where the temperatures are taken at the London International Airport made in 2002.
London beat the pre-move record, but not a newer record for Monday of 31.3 degrees set in 2007.
It was so hot over the weekend the city of London kept spray pads open. Usually they spray pads close at the beginning of September but the spray pad at the Forks of the Thames opened Thursday while the spray pad at Gibbons Park was also in operation over the weekend.
The hot and humid temperatures will continue Tuesday when another record could be set before relief starts to arrive Wednesday, although a warm weather record could also be set that day as well. A ridge of high pressure has remained in southwestern Ontario since last week, preventing any cold air from coming to the region.
That will change Wednesday into Thursday when a cold front moves across southern Ontario bringing cooler temperatures for the remainder of the week.
“A cold front will sweep upwards across southern Ontario and temperatures will return to normal,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Yoseph Mengesha.
While the temperature will cool off by the end of the week, the long range forecast does call for temperatures hovering around the 20 degree mark through the Thanksgiving long weekend.
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