Winnipeg the hottest place in Canada; soaring temperatures shatter weather records across Manitoba

Winnipeg was the hottest place in Canada Tuesday afternoon, joining more than a dozen Manitoba communities that shattered local records amid an ongoing heat wave expected to break later this week.

Preliminary data collected by Environment and Climate Change Canada showed at least 13 weather stations exceeded previous local daytime temperatures set on May 13.

Winnipeg broke the day’s oldest record by reaching a high of 36.9 C — well above the city’s 33.3 C record set in 1932. It remained the national hot spot as of 5 p.m., despite dropping slightly to 36.5 degrees, according to ECCC data.

“We had very hot temperatures yesterday, we had hot temperatures the day before, so it’s definitely a remarkable heat event,” said Natalie Hasell, a warning preparedness meteorologist.

“The data is quite impressive… especially for mid-May.”

Many of the new records exceeded 35 C, including those set in Altona (35.7), Arnes (36.2), Carman (35.8), Deerwood (35.1), Emerson (36), Gretna (35.7), Steinbach (35.1) and Gimli (36.2). Temperatures were marginally lower, but still record breaking, in Pilot Mound (32.4), Pinawa (34), Pine Falls (34.8) and Portage la Prairie (33).

Seven of those communities broke heat records for the second time this week, including Winnipeg, which reached a new high for the second consecutive day, according to ECCC data.

Collectively, Tuesday’s broken records span from 1932 to 1977, Hasell said.

Meanwhile, northern Manitoba near Churchill experienced snow Tuesday, she said.

The meteorologist warned the public to prepare for an incoming Colorado low that will blanket most of the province in cold weather, frost and storms later this week. Temperatures will begin to cool slightly tomorrow and through Thursday night, when the forecast indicates showers are a strong possibility, she said.

The current forecast projects temperatures as low as -1 C accompanied by rain Friday night in Winnipeg, with daytime highs at just 5 C Saturday. The weather will warm again through the remainder of the weekend and is expected to reach 18 C by Monday.

“I want people to be ready for large variations in the weather. We can have these very hot conditions in one part of the week and then, as the systems move and the cold fronts go through the area… we’ll see a very sharp change,” Hasell said.

The long-term forecast is projecting heat to continue beyond the weekend and into the near future, she said.

“That doesn’t mean it’s going be like this the whole (summer). We are still going to have variability, we are still going to have systems come and go and bring what they bring as they pass. The important part is paying attention.”

Low-pressure systems in the south and some northern parts of the province will move east as the Colorado low arrives, Hasell said.

The short burst of cool weather and possible precipitation may help the parts of the province dealing with rampant wildfires, but it will likely not be long enough to completely quell the emergencies, she said.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca