Several heat records were broken during the day on Sunday in northern Quebec, with some areas even recording higher temperatures than most municipalities located further south in the province.
This is what Environment Canada indicated in a special bulletin on Monday, attributing the situation to a “warm air mass” which caused significant temperature increases in several sectors.
In Inukjuak, for example, the 24 degrees recorded shattered the previous high of 15 degrees for September 22, which dated back to 1948. About 300 kilometres away, the northern village of Kuujjuarapik surpassed 26 degrees on the thermometer, while the most recent record, of 21.7 degrees, was recorded in 1961.
The same is true in the La Grande Rivière region, where temperatures reached 25.5 degrees, breaking a more recent record from 2017, which was around 21 degrees. For its part, La Grande IV, with 23 degrees, beat its peak of 20.4 degrees from 2019.
According to Météo Média, “the mercury was up to 18°C higher than normal in places” during the day on Sunday, with the areas surrounding James Bay being “the most affected by this anomaly.” “The risk of fire is very high in the northwest,” the specialized media outlet also pointed out.
At the same time, it was about 23 degrees in the Quebec metropolis, which is not a record in itself. In Quebec City, the temperature was a little cooler, hovering around 17 degrees.
In the short term, however, everything indicates that this heat wave will not continue in northern Quebec. Already, on Monday, temperatures had dropped back to seasonal norms, and this should continue over the next few days.
However, strong winds of up to “90 kilometres per hour” are expected early this week in the Salluit area. The wind could “carry away objects not attached to a surface and cause injury or damage,” Environment Canada warned.
2024, a record year?
All this comes as, according to the climate change department at the European agency Copernicus, it can already be concluded that the summer of 2024 has set a new global heat record.
Indeed, the average temperature for the months of June, July and August worldwide was the highest ever recorded, exceeding by 0.69°C the average for these three months between 1991 and 2020. The new mark slightly exceeds the previous record set in 2023 (0.66°C).
Overall, 2024 is likely to surpass 2023, considered the warmest year on record and possibly the warmest in 120,000 years.
With Éric-Pierre Champagne, The Press