With summer’s final long weekend underway, parts of Canada – specifically western regions – can expect to see extreme temperatures as a result of a heat dome in the United States.
“This unusually warm spell that we’re seeing in western Canada is from the southwestern part of the United States,” David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, told Global News.
“What we’re seeing is a heat dome that has captured a good part of the geography of North America,” he said.
A heat dome is a high pressure area that sets itself up over parts of the atmosphere and allows temperatures to build up over a period of time.
“It’s like a bully. You can’t kick it out. It just doesn’t leave and becomes dangerous and unhealthy,” said Phillips.
While heat domes can sometimes last months, this particular one established itself earlier this week, he added.
In a heat dome, air rises but is impeded by the “lid or roof,” which pushes it back down to make temperatures even warmer, according to Phillips.
“Temperatures that would be comfortably hot are in fact, dangerously hot. They reach levels that people are not used to,” he said.
And, while heat domes are usually intense, this one is unusually strong and warm, he said.
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“We’re seeing record temperatures…and there’s no stopping it at the border,” said Phillips.
British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan all began to feel the heat earlier this week, with other provinces like Manitoba also expected to soon feel the intensity, he said.
“It’s just hot and dry and the sun is baking the ground and causing the air to be even warmer,” he said.
No storms are expected to make their way through the heat dome for a period of relief either, Phillips added.
“There’s no escaping it. It’s like a weather-free zone. It diverts any weather,” he said. “Takes that weather away so you can’t get any comforting breezes or storms that come in to eradicate it.”
With the heat dome coming later in summer, there are sober implications, according to Phillips.
“This is becoming very serious. We often see the kinds of heat that we’re seeing in the parts of the United States and certainly in Canada, but we’d see it more in the middle of July, not the beginning of September,” he said. “The calendar changed but the weather didn’t.”
“When I was a kid, winter came in maybe November,” Kent Moore, professor of physics and vice principal of research at the University of Toronto, Mississauga, told Global News, speaking about growing up in southern ON.
“Now, when does winter come? Maybe December, maybe January, maybe never,” he said. “The cool part of the year is getting shorter, the warmer part of the year is getting longer.”
With the seasons lasting different durations, ecosystems and animals are also affected, according to Moore.
“I think we’re seeing the impact of climate change. If we don’t change our carbon footprint, these events can become more extreme in the future,” he said.
In Western Canada, this is expected to be warmest Labour Day long weekend in the region since 2006, according to a report from The Weather Network.
Places in Alberta, including Medicine Hat, are expected to have temperatures rise to 35 degrees on Monday, the report said. A high of 29 is expected in Calgary and a high of 28 is predicted for Edmonton and Fort McMurray.
In Saskatchewan, Saskatoon is expected to feel the heat soar to 34 degrees and Regina, 33 degrees.
The report also confirmed that thunderstorm activity across this part of the country looks “muted and isolated, with a hot and stable ridge running the long-weekend show.”
In the east, places in Ontario, including Windsor, are predicted to experience a high of 25 degrees, though it is expected to feel like 28, according to the report.
In Newfoundland, heavy downpours may occur through the long weekend, unlike other parts of Canada.
Periodic showers and thunderstorms are also anticipated across Ontario and Quebec, the report said. A risk of scattered showers is also expected to make its way to the Maritime provinces on Monday.
— With files from Global News’ Kyle Benning & Heather Yourex-West
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