Summer has decided to hang on and not leave us quite yet, bringing record-breaking heat to much of the Canadian Prairies. A large upper ridge build into the region on Tuesday and Wednesday, pushing the jet stream all the way up to the 60th parallel which has allowed a hot, dry southwest flow to remain in place over Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba for days on end. Records have fallen left in right, with some of the highest daily quantities of records being broken at once over the last two days.
How long will this heat stay with us? How hot is it going to get? Click through to read more!
On Wednesday, September 7th, 22 record highs were broken across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba:
Daily Record Temperatures set September 7, 2011
| Location | New Record |
Old Record |
Record Year |
Records Began |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | ||||
| Cold Lake | 30.4 | 27.8 | 1998 | 1953 |
| Fort Chipewyan | 27.0 | 25.0 | 1937 | 1884 |
| Fort McMurray | 31.0 | 28.3 | 1949 | 1944 |
| Jasper | 29.6 | 29.1 | 1998 | 1943 |
| Whitecourt | 29.1 | 26.7 | 1949 | 1943 |
| Saskatchewan | ||||
| Saskatoon | 33.4 | 31.5 | 1990 | 1892 |
| Collins Bay | 28.0 | 18.8 | 1980 | 1972 |
| Hudson Bay | 30.7 | 30.2 | 1990 | 1943 |
| Key Lake | 30.0 | 21.5 | 2005 | 1977 |
| La Ronge | 29.6 | 27.7 | 1980 | 1923 |
| Meadow Lake | 30.2 | 28.5 | 1998 | 1924 |
| Melfort | 31.7 | 31.5 | 1980 | 1902 |
| Nipawin | 33.0 | 32.2 | 1934 | 1927 |
| North Battleford | 33.0 | 32.2 | 1893 | 1880 |
| Rosetown | 32.6 | 32.0 | 1991 | 1937 |
| Stony Rapids | 27.0 | 22.7 | 2005 | 1960 |
| Manitoba | ||||
| Fisher Branch | 29.7 | 29.5 | 1980 | 1977 |
| Gimli | 28.3 | 27.9 | 1980 | 1944 |
| Lynn Lake | 29.0 | 23.9 | 1980 | 1952 |
| The Pas | 30.3 | 29.4 | 1934 | 1910 |
| Thompson | 27.6 | 24.5 | 1990 | 1967 |
Of note on this day:
- North Battleford broke a daily record high temperature that was set in 1893, a record 118 years old.
- Many record highs were broken by at least 2 or 3°C, and some by nearly 10°C.
On Thursday, September 8th, 22 record highs were broken across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba:
Daily Record Temperatures set September 8, 2011
| Location | New Record |
Old Record |
Record Year |
Records Began |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | ||||
| Cold Lake | 30.8 | 29.8 | 1981 | 1953 |
| Coronation | 32.2 | 31.2 | 1981 | 1928 |
| Fort McMurray | 32.1 | 30.4 | 1981 | 1944 |
| High Level | 27.4 | 26.3 | 1995 | 1967 |
| Jasper | 30.0 | 29.8 | 1998 | 1943 |
| Sundre | 26.9 | 26.0 | 1994 | 1985 |
| Waterton Park | 28.3 | 28.0 | 1994 | 1966 |
| Saskatchewan | ||||
| Saskatoon | 34.1 | 33.5 | 1981 | 1892 |
| Collins Bay | 24.6 | 24.1 | 1981 | 1972 |
| Hudson Bay | 31.7 | 30.2 | 1990 | 1943 |
| Kindersley | 33.2 | 32.8 | 1981 | 1913 |
| Leader | 34.2 | 33.5 | 1981 | 1924 |
| Nipawin | 32.8 | 32.2 | 2003 | 1927 |
| Stony Rapids | 24.1 | 22.3 | 2003 | 1960 |
| Manitoba | ||||
| Fisher Branch | 32.1 | 32.0 | 2003 | 1977 |
| Gimli | 31.1 | 30.0 | 2003 | 1944 |
| Island Lake | 28.1 | 25.2 | 2009 | 1971 |
| Lynn Lake | 26.6 | 23.6 | 1980 | 1952 |
| Pinawa | 30.7 | 30.5 | 2003 | 1964 |
| Sprague | 30.9 | 29.4 | 1932 | 1915 |
| The Pas | 30.3 | 27.5 | 2003 | 1910 |
| Thompson | 28.0 | 25.8 | 2003 | 1967 |
And today, September 9th, 2011, 18 records were broken:
Daily Record Temperatures set September 9, 2011
| Location | New Record |
Old Record |
Record Year |
Records Began |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | ||||
| Edson | 28.7 | 27.8 | 1963 | 1910 |
| Fort Chipewyan | 30.0 | 27.0 | 1981 | 1884 |
| Fort McMurray | 32.7 | 32.4 | 1981 | 1944 |
| Jasper | 30.4 | 27.2 | 1944 | 1943 |
| Sundre | 28.9 | 25.8 | 2006 | 1985 |
| Waterton Park | 28.5 | 27.4 | 2006 | 1966 |
| Whitecourt | 29.7 | 29.0 | 1981 | 1943 |
| Saskatchewan | ||||
| Collins Bay | 28.0 | 23.0 | 2003 | 1972 |
| Hudson Bay | 31.7 | 29.0 | 1998 | 1943 |
| La Ronge | 31.0 | 26.6 | 1994 | 1923 |
| Nipawin | 32.1 | 29.2 | 1981 | 1927 |
| Stony Rapids | 29.1 | 22.0 | 2006 | 1960 |
| Manitoba | ||||
| Fisher Branch | 31.8 | 31.5 | 1982 | 1977 |
| Gimli | 31.1 | 31.0 | 1982 | 1944 |
| Lynn Lake | 31.1 | 26.6 | 2003 | 1952 |
| Sprague | 31.9 | 30.0 | 1931 | 1915 |
| Swan River | 31.7 | 30.0 | 1998 | 1908 |
| The Pas | 30.7 | 26.8 | 2003 | 1910 |
This record-setting heat is all thanks to an impressive upper ridge that has built into the Prairies. This is a feature located high in the atmosphere that causes a large area of air to subside (move downwards). Combined with the fact that they build up from the south, they bring a lot of warm air along with themselves, and often result in a large area seeing sunny skies, light winds and hot, dry weather.
The upper ridge will remain in our area for the next couple days, with daytime highs remaining in the low 30°C range. Winnipeg has an honest shot at breaking our daily record high temperature tomorrow which sits at 32.4°C. Things will abruptly change next week however. On Monday a low pressure system will pass by to our north and drag a cold front down across the province. Through the following days, a large ridge of high pressure will build in from the northwest, bringing significantly cooler temperatures than the past week:
GFS Surface Temperatures Valid 06Z Thursday 15 September
Currently it looks like next Wednesday and Thursday will be the coldest of the days, with highs struggling to get as high as 15°C. While the last week has been a beautiful late-season blast of summer, fall is set to make an aggressive entrance early next week.
