How much heat and humidity to expect in the Maritimes this week

Kids play at a splash pad. (Heather Senoran/CTV News)

The weather pattern across North America this week will be heavily influenced by a few key features in the jet stream.

A broad ridge in the jet stream over the west and Midwest U.S. will allow for some hot July weather in southern parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

A second ridge will be present in the east. The Maritime provinces, Southern Quebec and Ontario will see hotter summer conditions.

Neither ridge will be strong enough to produce the same extreme “heat dome” that dominated the eastern U.S., Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes last week.

The level of “mugginess” in the air can be expected to rise later in the week.

Dew point temperature, which is a measure of moisture in the air, is forecast to remain in the low teens through Wednesday. That is generally considered to be a comfortable level.

Dew point temperature will rise to the mid-to-high teens Thursday and Friday, bringing a more humid feel to the air.

On Friday, a cold front passing across the region will refresh Maritime weather conditions on the weekend. Then, temperatures will cool towards seasonable averages with the humidity falling.

There isn’t much potential for a soaking rain over the next several days. A low-pressure system near the U.S. eastern seaboard will pass south and east of the Maritimes on Tuesday night and Wednesday.

It will bring a modest chance of showers to the southwest of Nova Scotia Tuesday night and a low chance of showers for Atlantic coastal areas of mainland Nova Scotia on Wednesday.

The late week cold front brings scattered showers to New Brunswick on Thursday and Friday. Both Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia will see chances of showers Thursday night and Friday.

Several climatological computer forecast models show that it is likely that the Maritimes finishes July and August with above average temperatures.