Meteorological summer may have ended on Wednesday, but that does not mean residents in Saskatchewan are done seeing hot summer temperatures now that it’s September.
Heat warnings blanketed parts of Saskatchewan on Thursday as communities in the south, central east and far northeast regions of the province.
According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, heat warnings are issued when very high temperature or humidity conditions are expected to pose an elevated risk of heat illnesses, such as heat stroke or heat exhaustion.
Daytime highs were back in the low to mid-30s range on Thursday as some communities could set new heat records.
Terri Lang, meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, says temperatures this hot at this time of year are nothing out of the ordinary.
“If you take a good look at the the records for this time of year, they’re all in the mid-30s,” Lang said. “Some of them are even in the high 30s. So that indicates to us that the heat at this time isn’t that unusual.”
And it does not look like the heat will be leaving any time soon.
Lang notes that Thursday’s heat won’t transition to Friday as a cool front will move through the province, meaning heat warnings will drop as temperatures fall into the 20s.
But they won’t drop for long as the forecast is calling for the return of extreme heat throughout the Labour Day long weekend.
After that, the hot weather could remain well into next week.
“Maybe the duration (of this heat) is a little bit longer than what we’re used to. But keep in mind that our summer was a little bit delayed by a couple of weeks. If you remember, it took a little while for it to get going,” says Lang. “Maybe that’s why it’s hanging on a little bit longer on this end of it.”
Lang says the hottest spots in the province on Thursday are likely concentrated in the south and southeast areas of the province, including Regina, Estevan and Weyburn.
She adds that residents will want to stay hydrated, stay in the shade as much as possible and try to do outdoor activities during the early parts of the day when conditions are cooler.
Heat welcomed by farmers
On the agriculture side of things, producers are continuing to get their crop in the bin as harvest rolls on despite the heat.
The sizzling temperatures are welcomed after areas last week received rain, which resulted in operation delays.
Ian Boxall, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, says this is the kind of weather producers want during this time of the year.
“Crops are mostly matured, so we want hot, dry weather to get the crop harvested,” Boxall says.
One of his only concerns is that he wants farmers to remember to make sure they are keeping tabs on the temperature of their grain when it gets this hot out.
“We just need to be careful when we’re binning it this hot. We want to make sure we monitor the grain once it’s in the bin to ensure it doesn’t get too hot.”
While it’s a busy time of the year for farmers, they are also being reminded to stay cool when possible.
The latest crop report, for the period of Aug. 23 to 28, indicates that harvest progress is at 23 per cent, up from 16 per cent last week and trailing the five-year average of 26 per cent.
The southwest and west central regions of Saskatchewan have progressed the most with their operations, with some producers reporting they are close to completing.
The southwest has 67 per cent of the crop now combined. West central has completed 36 per cent, the southeast 16 per cent, the east central nine per cent, the northwest six per cent and the northeast four per cent.