Hot, hot heat builds into southern Saskatchewan

A heat warning has been issued for the weekend, with temperatures in the low to mid 30s and the low temps hitting about 16 degrees for the next few days.

Terri Lang with Environment and Climate Change Canada said the temperatures will start climbing today with a ridge of upper high pressure building in Western Canada.

“We are expecting highs in the low to mid 30s across much of southern and central Saskatchewan starting today, Friday, and it looks like it’s going to last well through the weekend into Sunday,” Lang said. “We do have a low pressure system moving through on Monday so I think that’s going to provide enough cloud and shower and thundershower activity that will see the temperatures come down on Monday. So a three day event we’re heading into.”

With the heat and humidity, the thunderstorm chance raises a bit is likely going to be higher in the southeastern part of the province.

“The chance diminishes a little bit over the weekend, but again on Monday, it looks like as the heat really breaks down… we start to see the better chances again.

Lang offers suggestions to try to stay cool.
“The heat is going to be intense and the sun is going to be intense so always remember to seek shade as much as possible, make sure you’ve got sunscreen on, wear a hat, try and cool off as much as you can, drink a lot of water,” she said. “If you have to work outside, make sure you do it during the times of day when it’s cooler like in the morning and in the evenings, and not the high heat and the high sun times.”

She said studies have shown that the heat  has a cumulative effect where  a day of heat is one thing, but when overnight lows are warm, the body has trouble resting and recuperating.

“Just take it easy in the heat and enjoy it safely,” she said.