With daytime temperatures expected to soar into the 30s over the next few days, Environment Canada has issued yellow “heat” warnings for much of Western Canada.
The heat will also be accompanied by a blanket of wildfire smoke in many areas, prompting health officials in many areas to also issue warnings about the poor air quality.
On Thursday, an area stretching from southern British Columbia east into southwestern Saskatchewan was placed under a heat warning, but the heat warnings are expected to be expanded in the coming days as “a prolonged stretch of hot air” with temperatures into the mid 30s some days forecasted for the southern parts of all three Prairie provinces.
The heat warnings issued for southern Alberta and Saskatchewan on Thursday are expected to soon be extended eastward into Manitoba.
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“In some areas, especially in the southern Prairies and Southern Interior (B.C.), we’re looking at daytime highs staying in the 30s potentially for the rest of the month,” said Global News meteorologist Peter Quinlan.
“We will see some relief through central and northern areas where we will see some cool Arctic air at times move in, but overall, it’s going to be a very hot, dry trend right into August,” Quinlan added.
In Calgary, the overnight temperature over the next few days is only expected to drop into the mid-teens, compared to the normal overnight low of 10 C at this time of year.
In Winnipeg, overnight temperatures around 20 C are in the forecast through the weekend.
Global News meteorologist Peter Quinlan forecasts the hot weather to last through the end of August across much of the Prairies.
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While there have been relatively few forest fires in Alberta so far this year, the hot, dry forecast is also expected to lead to an uptick in the number of fires across the Prairie provinces.
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“These are kind of right fire weather conditions that we’re seeing across Western Canada. We’re even at times seeing crossover conditions where the relative humidity is below the temperature. So that’s when we can see explosive fire development, fires that can spark up in an instant. Very dangerous conditions that will be in play right through into August,” said Quinlan.
Wildfire smoke blowing across the prairies — much of it from B.C., Washington State and Oregon — has also prompted a growing number of air quality warnings.
After several days of extremely poor air quality, the City of Edmonton lifted its air quality warning on Thursday, however Environment Canada still has air quality warnings in place for large areas of the north in all three Prairie provinces.
Along with the hot, dry weather, much of the Prairies is also forecast to be blanketed in wildfire smoke.
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“When you have a heat warning and poor air quality warning, heat affects how we think, it affects our brain function. It affects our heart and lungs,” said Dr. Anne Hicks, a pediatric respirologist in Edmonton.
“We have to work harder to keep our body going in heat, and as we dry out, it also impacts our kidney function, which is important for people with diabetes, for everybody really. Then poor air quality also makes our heart and lungs mostly work harder as well. So when you add those two things together, you’re increasing the risk,” Hicks added.
In Calgary, where one of the city’s signature events of the summer — the Calgary Folk Festival — kicks off Thursday evening, organizers are taking special precautions to guard against the negative impacts of the weather and the smoke.
“For us … we are monitoring it from multiple different angles,” said Sara Leishman. “We always hire a meteorologist to help us navigate weather. He’s got an eye on it. We also work with Calgary Regional Air Shed Zone, CRAS, and they keep an eye on things as well. Last year we purchased some purple air monitors. So we are going to have hyper-local data right here on Princess Island Park because of our ability to use the information from those monitors.”
Leishman said if the air quality deteriorates to a point that it is dangerous for the festival to continue, they will shut it down.
Folk Fest organizers will also have water stations and misters set up to help keep people cool.
In Edmonton, the city also issued a warning Thursday about the dangers of leaving pets in a vehicle unattended.
An officer with the City of Edmonton’s Animal Protection Act Unit demonstrates how quickly temperatures inside a vehicle, parked in the shade for just a few minutes, with the windows partway down, can increase to dangerous levels.
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Under the city’s new Animal Care and Control bylaw, anyone who leaves an animal unattended in a vehicle in what’s deemed to be a health-threatening situation faces an initial fine of $500 and a fine of $1000 for a second offence, or charges under the Criminal Code for more serious offences.
Sgt. Emma Fillion of the City of Edmonton’s Animal Protection Act Unit said most of the calls they get come from areas like shopping malls, grocery stores or hotels, where animals are not welcome, or the owner just doesn’t want to pay the pet fee.
The solution is to “just leave your pet at home,” she said.
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