While a cold front has been felt over parts of Ontario after a multi-day heat wave, parts of Canada from coast to coast are bracing for sweltering conditions that will last until the weekend.
The unusually warm for the season threatened to break daily temperature records in the north and other parts of the country, capping a week in which an unofficial analysis recorded the hottest day on record on Earth.
A new heat warning issued Friday morning for southern Quebec indicates that a warm, humid air mass will hover over the province through Sunday, making it feel like around 35 degrees Celsius during the day and offering little respite at night.
Heat warnings remained in place for eastern Ontario, including Ottawa, but Environment Canada lifted weather alerts for the rest of the province after a trying week of hot and humid weather.
In British Columbia, heat warnings were maintained for interior sections from the North Coast to the Central Coast and in the Fraser Canyon region east of Vancouver. High temperatures of between 30 and 35 degrees Celsius are expected during the day through Sunday.
On the east coast, temperatures are expected to reach 40 degrees in parts of New Brunswick and 36 degrees in Nova Scotia due to wet conditions. Most of Prince Edward Island is expected to experience temperatures in the 20 degree range, while part of Newfoundland and Labrador around Churchill Falls is also under heat alert.
Earth’s average temperature hit a record high of 17.23 degrees Celsius on Thursday, according to the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, a tool that uses satellite data and computer simulations to gauge the state of the planet. This is the third such unofficial stage in a week already considered the hottest on record.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration distanced itself from the university’s analysis on Thursday, saying it could not confirm data that resulted in part from computer modelling. The agency, however, acknowledged that the Earth was going through a period of warming due to climate change.
Environment Canada has issued a heat warning for Yukon and the Northwest Territories that is expected to last through the weekend.
In the central Northwest Territories, including Fort Simpson, the agency said unseasonably hot weather could persist through the end of next week. In Inuvik, the forecast calls for temperatures in the 30s for Friday and Saturday, which equates to daily records dating back to 1957, according to Environment Canada data.
Special air quality bulletins are in effect for northern parts of British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec due to wildfires.