Montrealers took to the streets and parks on Wednesday as the fall heat wave hitting several regions of Quebec continued. According to Environment Canada, it is above all the “intensity” of temperatures that will set a precedent this year.
“I felt cheated out of my summer because of all the rain, so I’m loving it right now, it’s really nice,” says Ralph Shayne, seen in the Old Port of Montreal, where the sun and heat were omnipresent at the end of the afternoon, to the great delight of the traders who filled their terraces.
For Antonio, who lives in the neighborhood, it is probably a “last chance” before colder temperatures. “For the month of October, that’s something. We take advantage of it, because it’s hard to predict these days: it’s cold, it’s hot, there’s rain, we don’t really know anymore,” he laughs.
At Environment Canada, meteorologist Jean-Philippe Bégin says he is especially surprised by the “intensity” of this heat wave. “For the duration, we have never had a first half of October as hot as in October 2021. On the other hand, we went up to only 24 degrees during this period. There, with 28, 29 and even 30 degrees, it’s really the intensity that is special,” he notes.
With the climate crisis, “we know that there will be more extreme events, but not necessarily more events in themselves,” illustrates the meteorologist. “There won’t be more heat waves than before, but when there is one, it will have the potential to be much more intense. »
Ralph Shayne also says he observes a certain “shift in the seasons”. “It’s certainly worrying what’s happening. This is the nature of climate change, it is the extremes which will increase, as much the periods of cold as of heat as of rain,” he notes.
Records per ton
Since Saturday, heat records have been piling up day by day across Quebec. Several other brands were also established on Tuesday, notably in Montreal and Quebec, but also Baie-Comeau, Mirabel, Trois-Rivières, La Turque and Rouyn-Noranda, to name just these cities.
“We are likely to break further records for Wednesday, with the 29 degrees that were observed in Montreal for example,” explains Mr. Bégin. The previous record was 26.7 degrees and dated back to 2005.
Peaks also seem to have been reached for October 4 in Sherbrooke, Val-d’Or and Gatineau. In the latter case, the thermometer even exceeded the 30 degree mark, while the previous record also dating from 2005 was set at 27.5 degrees.
It is heat coming from the southern United States which “is currently bringing abnormally high temperatures to Quebec for this time of year,” recalled Environment Canada in a special bulletin published Wednesday, adding that “other records could be beaten by the end of the week.
But this good weather should only be temporary. From Friday, the sun should give way to cloudy weather, rain and possible thunderstorms in most regions, while temperatures will quickly drop back down.
The mass of hot and humid air currently installed in Quebec has also “generated enough instability to form nighttime storms”, warns Environment Canada, which any material damage can be reported directly to it using the hashtag # meteoQC.