Much of British Columbia, Alberta and parts of Yukon and the Northwest Territories are sweltering under a 'heat dome' that is set to shatter historic high-temperature records over the next week.
EDMONTON -- Much of British Columbia, Alberta and parts of Yukon and the Northwest Territories are sweltering under a “heat dome” that is set to shatter historic high-temperature records over the next week.
“This is headshaking for somebody like a climatologist, like myself. I mean I like to break a record, but this is like shattering and pulverizing them,” Phillips told CTVNews.ca by phone on Saturday. “We've had a record dry spring in the Okanagan, moisture amounts in southern Alberta are maybe half of what they were since the beginning of the year. So, there's a lot more energy of the sun going to warming the air and very little going to evaporate the moisture,” Phillips explained.
Although ridges of high pressure often create hot spells in B.C. – usually in July and August – the kind of temperatures forecasted in Alberta this week are historic. Gulp! If we're at 32 at 3pm TODAY - those 34s and 35s I had for next week might be several degrees too low and the 37s/38s may actually hit. Unreal!In B.C., nearly the entire province is under a heat warning, save for some coastal regions like West Vancouver. However, Environment Canada is forecasting six days of 40-plus temperatures in Kamloops, which has never seen 40 C in June on record.
While the heat wave is impressive from a meteorological perspective, Phillips notes that it’s duration is concerning both from a public health and an environmental standpoint.
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