Turning The Heat Up On Red, White and Orange

Hot enough for you? How will you handle the heat this week?

Heat Wave

It’s Friday, June 25th. 10:29pm. The temperature outside is 24 C. Not a breath of air. Inside our home the temp is 26 C. And this is frigid compared to what it will feel like as you read this between June 26 and July 5th.

We are bracing for an historic eight consecutive days of over 30 C daytime temperatures.

Stuck

CTV’s weatherman, Josh Classen, says there is an incoming upper ridge and it’s going to get “stuck” over Alberta. Some days will be well above 30 C and could reach 40 C. Heat warnings are already in place for our area and most of Western Canada.

The all-time hottest temperature recorded in Edmonton is 37.2 C. That was on June 29, 1937.

We’ll take a run at that record. In fact, the Environment Canada forecast has the city getting to 37 or 38 C on the 29th.

Humidex

Even the good news is bad. Alberta is usually good for a dry heat. Growing up in Ontario we had the humidex factor. Kinda like a winter windchill effect only in reverse. The “dog days of August” were usually a week of no wind, 36 C with a humidex of 42 C and an overnight low of 26 C.

But now Albertans will be facing a humidex of around 40 C on Monday.

There isn’t a clearly defined end to this heat wave. The models just keep pushing the back end out.

Have you tried frying an egg on your sidewalk yet?

Hot And Bothered

Some of you will love this next 7 to 10 days. But, for many others, this will be a dangerous week. Please be sure to check in on your loved ones and neighbors.

And keep an eye on your own temperature. A new study has found that people get angry or cranky in warm weather as stress hormones may rise in tandem with the thermometer.

Did you know Major League Baseball pitchers are more aggressive on hot days? The number of batters hit by pitches goes up as the temperature rises.

Studies show high temperatures may lead to a reduced attraction toward other people especially when the heat is accompanied by crowding. Individuals who are exposed to warm temperatures in the laboratory are less likely to do nice things for others, even after the experiment is over.

Cool

This could be a hard week for us to keep our cool. We’re still not out of the frying pan of a once in a century pandemic. Now the weather looks like we’re into the fire.

Canadians are mourning the deaths of thousands of Indigenous children. Canada Day will look different. Look for red, white, and orange on July 1st.

What ever you do, be cool, be kind. A cup of cold water, or a freezie goes a long way when the heat gets turned up. Please leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

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