Edmonton sets a heat record as storms loom

Hot weather in Edmonton. (CTV News Edmonton)

The City of Edmonton has set a new record high for May 29th.

The previous record high for this date was 32.2 C in 1936. As of 6pm, Edmonton has hit a high of 32.7 C.

The city is also looking at a risk of showers and thunderstorms (possibly severe) through the evening hours.

Edmonton and surrounding areas are under a Severe Thunderstorm WATCH as of 6 p.m.

Storms have developed in western and northwest Alberta through the afternoon hours and will track eastward through this evening and overnight.

The most likely timeframe for thunderstorms in the Edmonton region is between 7 and 11 p.m.

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Regions around Edmonton and off to the north and northwest have a risk of some isolated severe storms with the potential to produce damaging wind gusts (80-100 km/h), large hail and heavy downpours.

As always - most areas will not get hit with those severe storms, but pay close attention to weather alerts through the rest of the day as the storms continue to develop and move east.

Sunny skies and slightly “cooler” conditions are in the forecast for Friday with a daytime high of 23 or 24 C in Edmonton.

Temperatures are expected to return to the 30 C range on Saturday with another round of evening/late-night showers and thunderstorms likely Saturday night into early Sunday morning.