After zero days over 30 C this past month in the Forest City, it looks like London, Ont., will be kicking off September with sunshine this Labour Day long weekend.
Anthony Farnell, Global News chief meteorologist, said hot and humid weather is also on the way.
“As we go through the weekend, high of 27 C Saturday (and) Sunday will be our first 30 C day, but it continues,” he said. “This, in the month of September, will likely be our hottest stretch of the entire summer with a humidex near 40 C.”
He said that despite a slight chance of some showers on Saturday, “that’s pretty much it.”
“I’m bringing that up because that’s pretty much it for the next week or so — we’re not anticipating any significant rain or clouds or anything,” Farnell added.
With residents getting ready for long weekend plans, Middlesex OPP Const. Jeff Hare is also reminding everyone to be safe on the roads this Labour Day.
“Let’s go enjoy this weekend,” he said. “Let’s be smart about it. Let’s all be respectful and let’s all get to where we’re going safely.”
According to recent statistics provided by OPP, there have been 239 deaths due to collisions this year. Close to 50 per cent of this year’s road fatalities were attributed to drivers who were speeding, inattentive, impaired or not wearing their seatbelt.
“We’ve had enough fatal collisions around Middlesex County lately, and we don’t need any more,” Hare said, adding that officers will be keeping an eye out this weekend for the “big four.”
“That’s speeding, impaired driving, distracted driving and seatbelt usage,” he explained. “So far this summer, we have dealt with numerous traffic complaints, numerous impaired calls, a ton of collisions, and it’s all avoidable.
“It seems to be a lack of respect toward other drivers, toward the rules of the road, (and) we’re seeing higher speeds than we’ve ever seen,” he continued. “It just comes down to people making better decisions.”
Hare added that a number of complaints related to racing around the Grand Bend area have also been rising over the summer.
“To be racing through these small communities, it’s not acceptable and it’s not respectable to the people that live there,” he said. “There’s a lot of distractions this weekend with kids heading back to school next week, we’ve got school buses that are moving around (and) preparing their routes, we’ve got people out riding bicycles, so there’s so much going on and we really need to be present as we’re driving the county highways.”
For those looking to head down to the beach for a spot to cool off over Labour Day, Const. Brett Phair also shared some water safety tips.
“For anybody that takes to the water, whether it’s this weekend or any other time, we just have to be aware that regardless of the conditions that you’re facing at the time and even in ideal conditions, you have to take as much safety precautions as possible,” he said.
As of Friday afternoon, Phair said search efforts are ongoing to locate a Londoner who went missing after swimming in Lake Erie earlier this week.
“It’s important to be familiar with the water and life-jackets are there for a reason and always consider using them regardless of your skills, abilities or what body of water you’re on,” he added.
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