‘Excruciatingly hot’: Heat wave expected to end Wednesday ahead of ‘stellar’ long weekend

Toronto is still under a heat warning from Environment Canada, but relief is expected tomorrow. Courtney Heels reports from Woodbine Beach.

The intense heat that has invaded the city for the past three days is expected to end on Wednesday, clearing the way for a “stellar” long weekend filled with sunshine and seasonable temperatures, CP24 Meteorologist Bill Coulter says.

The heat warning that was issued over the weekend remains in effect on Tuesday for Toronto, which will see a daytime high of 31 C today, feeling closer to 37 with the humidity.

“Confidence has increased that cooler temperatures will arrive on Wednesday, bringing an end to the heat event,” Environment Canada said in its advisory.

Wednesday will still be warmer than normal for this time of year with the mercury rising to 30 V, feeling closer to 35.

Steven Flisfeder, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said a cooler airmass is expected to arrive on Wednesday night.

“Very hot, very sticky conditions for today and tomorrow. We are expecting a cooler airmass to finally make its way through the city for late Wednesday,” he told CP24 on Tuesday.

“We will see temperatures starting to drop nearer to seasonal for Wednesday night into Thursday.”

Thursday will begin a stretch of “stellar and comfortable weather” that will continue throughout the long weekend, Coulter said earlier this week.

Thursday will see mainly sunny skies, low humidity, and a seasonable high of 26 C.

Sunshine and comfortable daytime highs of 26 C, 27 C, and 28 C are in the forecast for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday respectively, Environment Canada says.

Environment Canada’s Dave Phillips said Toronto has seen “quite a different summer than last year.”

Including this week, he said Toronto has seen 23 days where the temperature rose above 30 C. At this point last year, Toronto had only seen 10 such days.

“It is something that was predicted, maybe not as excruciatingly hot as this one,” Phillips said on Monday.

“And it came late. We didn’t have any days in April and May above 30, we counted them all in June and July.”

He said Toronto has seen nearly 60 hours of humidex values above 40.

“We’ve had more days above 30 in July than we’ve had not days above 30,” Phillips said.

But once the heat breaks in the middle of the week, Toronto and much of Ontario will see the best weather imaginable, he added.

“It’s all going to be worth it,” he said, adding there will be “wall-to-wall sunshine,” seasonable daytime highs, and no inclement weather in sight.

“You couldn’t even manufacture a kind of weekend we are going to see.”

Beach and pool closures

Toronto Public Health is advising caution at the popular Centre Island beach on the Toronto Islands, after water samples showed elevated E.coli bacteria counts.

Fourteen splash or spray pads are currently closed for repairs or for the season in the city, and three outdoor pools are also closed to the public.