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Summer of heat waves: A list of some temperature records broken in Canada this year

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Canada's summer of heat waves continues this weekend, with warnings issued in four provinces.

Environment Canada says maximum temperatures on Sunday in southern Ontario, southern Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia could reach or surpass 30 C and potentially hit the low 40s with the humidity.

Heat warnings and high humidity have been a theme this year, with some provinces and territories reporting record-breaking temperatures.

Here are some of the heat records reported so far this year:

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Along with a spate of recent fires, British Columbia saw days of record-breaking temperatures across the province throughout late July.

Preliminary data shows the province broke eight temperature records — some decades old — on July 31.

Many of the records broken for that day were in the B.C. Interior region, with Osoyoos hitting 40 C on July 31, breaking the town's 2003 record of 39.6 C.

Other municipalities that broke records for July 31, include the Cache Creek (40.5 C), Cranbrook (37.6 C), Lillooet (39 C), Nelson (39.4 C), Penticton (39 C), Summerland (38.7 C) and Trail (39.6 C) areas.

Prior to that, preliminary data showed eight areas in the province recorded new temperature highs for July 29, including Cache Creek (41.2 C), Clinton (34.7 C), Kamloops (37.9 C), Lillooet (40.1 C), Lytton (42.2 C), Merritt (37.2 C), Nelson (38.6 C) and Trail (40 C).

Fourteen records were either broken or tied on July 28, early data from Environment Canada showed, some from the 1930s.

Lytton saw a high of 41.1 C on July 28, breaking a record set in 2009 of 40.6. The day before, the B.C. village broke its 1939 record of 40 C after recording a temperature of 42 C.

The new records for Lytton come after temperatures of more than 45 C were recorded back in June 2021, the first time that’s happened any place in Canada. The village would go on to set new all-time records in Canada that month, at one point registering a temperature of 49.6 C.

Osoyoos tied its 1996 record of 41.2 C for July 28 this year.

Meanwhile, new records for that day were set in the areas of Blue River (37 C), Clearwater (39.2 C), Clinton (34.5 C), Dawson Creek (32.5 C), Kelowna (38.7 C), Mackenzie (33.4 C), Penticton (37.9 C), Port Hardy (24.1 C), Princeton (38 C), Puntzi Mountain (34.2 C), Sparwood (33.1 C) and Vernon (37.8 C).

Ten records were broken or tied on July 27, including in Vancouver, which warmed to 30.4 C, surpassing its 1998 record of 29.9 C for that day.

Lytton reached 42 C that day, beating its 1939 record of 40 C for July 27.

The Bella Bella, Cache Creek, Clinton, Dawson Creek, Fort St. John, Mackenzie, Nelson and Puntzi Mountain areas also tied or broke their previous records.

More than a dozen temperature records, some dating back to the late 1800s, were also broken or tied on July 26.

Abbotsford broke its previous temperature record of 33.6 C set in 1998 after recording 35.4 C on July 26.

Victoria broke its previous record of 30.5 C, set in 2019, with a record 31.5 C.

Agassiz, B.C., tied its record of 35.6 C from 1899.

Other municipalities that either tied or broke their records for July 26 include the Bella Bella (33.6 C), Cache Creek (37.5 C), Estevan Point (23.8 C), Gibsons (34.4 C), Hope (37.9 C), Malahat (33.2 C), Port Alberni (37.7 C), Prince Rupert (25.8 C), Sechelt (34.4 C), Squamish (37.1 C) and White Rock (31 C) areas.

THE PRAIRIES

Environment Canada has issued heat warnings in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba throughout the spring and summer.

On June 20, Manitoba broke 18 heat records, with the provincial capital Winnipeg recording a temperature of 37 C that day, beating the previous record set in 1888 of 33.3 C.

Coronach in southern Saskatchewan set a new heat record of 38.6 C on Aug. 4, breaking its previous record of 37.2 C from 1964.

This is on top of heavy wind gusts the municipality saw that day, with speeds of up to 94 kilometres per hour.

ONTARIO

On May 31, the city of Toronto broke a decades-old heat record, registering a high of 32.1 C at Pearson International Airport, or 36 C with the humidity.

The previous record, dating back to 1944, was 31.1 C.

On June 21, the first day of summer, Windsor, Ont., recorded a temperature of 34.9 C at its local airport, beating the previous record that day of 34.4 C in 2012.

Back on March 6, the city of Ottawa saw its highest temperature for that day ever at 12.9 C, beating the previous 1974 record of 9.4 C. The typical high for that time of the year is closer to 0 C.

More record-breaking temperatures for Ottawa would come in May, with the city seeing its warmest May 11 on record at 27 C, beating the previous record of 26.8 C for that day in 2001.

The records continued on May 12, when the temperature reached 29.7 C and beat the previous record of 27.6 C set on that day in 1992.

The following day, May 13, the temperature reached a record 29.8 C, surpassing the previous mark of 28.2 C set that day in 1985.

QUEBEC, ATLANTIC PROVINCES AND THE TERRITORIES

The temperature in Montreal was expected to reach 31 C on May 12, which would have set a new record for that day.

Figures from Environment Canada show the temperature reached 30.3 C, the hottest May 12 on record since at least 2013.

Prince Edward Island is also among the Atlantic provinces placed under extended heat warnings this weekend.

And on July 5, a heat wave broke records in Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

Temperatures hovered near 30 C across large swaths of the territories, with records broken in areas above the Arctic Circle, including Inuvik, N.W.T. The temperature reached 31.8 C there, breaking the previous record of 29.5 C set in 1998.

On July 4, Carmacks, located between Whitehorse and Dawson City, Yukon, hit 31.8 C, nearly three degrees higher than a record set in 2021.

With files from CTV News and The Canadian Press

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