Sweltering heat breaks temperature records

Multiple weather stations in western Manitoba registered temperature records over the weekend as sweltering heat baked the province’s southern half.

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or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527. Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! To continue reading, please subscribe: Add Brandon Sun access to your Free Press subscription for only an additional $1 for the first 4 weeks* Multiple weather stations in western Manitoba registered temperature records over the weekend as sweltering heat baked the province’s southern half.

McCreary, Carberry and Shoal Lake registered new highs while Swan River tied its previous record. “The heat combined with the moisture made it feel really, really hot,” Environment and Climate Change (ECCC) meteorologist Terri Lang said. “It’s also been a relatively cool spring, so I think people forget that this happens in the summer in southern Manitoba.

So that first dose of really, really hot, humid weather feels particularly nasty.” McCreary registered the highest new temperature record in the province on Sunday with 36.5 C, destroying the old record of 32 C set in 1979. Carberry registered at 34.7 C, beating the 33.9 C set in 1969, while Shoal Lake set a 32.9 C record, overtaking the 29.4 C set in 1964.

Swan River tied its 33.9 C record registered in 1964. All four stations only started keeping records in the 1960s. Lang said the heat dome that was sitting over the United States before moving north was exacerbated by the moisture from heavy rainfall and crops.

The temperature in Brandon on Sunday reached 34.2 C with a humidity making it feel like a scorching 46 C. The temperature on Saturday was 32.5 C, which felt like 41 C, and on Friday it was 28.4 C, which felt like 34 C. The region remained under an orange heat warning on Monday, with a 33 C high and a humidex of 42 C. “There’s a bit of a perception that this was just unbelievably (hot), but it wasn’t,” Lang said. “Because it’s been dry over the past few years, you kind of forget about what the moisture does and how it contributes to the humidex.”

Despite records being broken in seven communities in Manitoba and four others having ties, the heat wave is “very typical” this time of year, she said. Monday was expected to be the last really hot day this week, she added, with a bit of cooling off to near and slightly above average temperatures for the remainder of the week. ECCC forecasts show highs of between 26 C and 29 C from Wednesday until Sunday.

Fisher Branch, Grand Rapids, Gretna and Portage la Prairie were the other Manitoba communities that set new temperature records on Sunday, while Gillam, Gimli and Kleefeld saw their records tied. » alambert@brandonsun.com