Heat warnings expanded again with highs in the low 30s across Alberta today

Heat expected to stay around until next week. Jodi Hughes has a look at the five-day forecast from the Sky Watch Weather Centre.

A near stationary and large ridge of high pressure remains in place over Western Canada.

Temperatures under the ridge will continue to rise, prompting Environment and Climate Change Canada to expand heat warnings across Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories.

Daytime highs throughout Alberta are expected to mostly reach at least 30 C Wednesday with lows between 10 C to 16 C.

According to ECCC, seven locations in Alberta set new maximum temperature records on Tuesday, including the Edmonton Area (32.2 C), the Grande Prairie Area (31.9 C) and Lac La Biche Area (30.1 C).

Wednesday will likely be windier than Tuesday with sustained winds in Calgary forecast to reach 20 km/h with gusts as strong as 40 km/h.

There is a slight chance of thunderstorm development along the foothills later in the week, but outside of that the conditions should be mostly clear.

As expected, the fire danger risk is continuing to increase with these hot, dry, conditions.

As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, portions of southern Alberta were rated as the highest risk or “extreme” with more areas under a “very high” risk.

This heat will continue into early next week with highs between 28 C to 30 C in Calgary and lows between 13 C and 14 C compared to the normal range of 21 C and 7 C.