Advising of record lows and heat warnings, the forecast across Canada includes variable conditions from coast to coast to coast.
Record cold on the East Coast
Residents of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador saw record low temperatures Tuesday morning, according to Environment Canada’s preliminary records.
In the Badger area of N.L., it was -4.6 C early Tuesday morning, breaking the old record of -3.1 C in 2016 for temperatures recorded on a June 2.
It was -2.3 C Tuesday morning in New Brunswick’s Kouchibouguac National Park, according to Environment Canada’s preliminary data. The previous record of -1.5 C was set in 1990.
In the Chéticamp area of N.S., it was -1.1 C, passing the -0.6 C record set in 1962.
According to CTV Your Morning chief meteorologist Kelsey McEwen, the jet stream — a thin band of strong winds that blow high in the Earth’s atmosphere — is currently amplified across northern Canada with a swing southward above Atlantic Canada, which is why these provinces are seeing cooler temperatures.
“When you have an area of lower pressure sitting above you, higher up in the atmosphere, it doesn’t matter as much what happens at the surface in terms of temperature, because your overall dominating influence is cooler condition,” McEwen said on Your Morning on Tuesday.
To the northwest, a similar record was also broken in the Teslin area of Yukon, where the daily low was -3.5 C early Tuesday. The old record of -3.3 C was set in 1945. In Northern Ontario, some residents woke up to a frost advisory.
Heat warnings
But in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, heat advisories were issued for some areas.
Areas under a heat warning include Seabee Mine, Sask., through Split Lake and York Landing, Man.
“Heat warnings are issued when very high temperature or humidity conditions are expected to pose an elevated risk of heat illnesses, such as heat stroke or heat exhaustion,” according to the Environment Canada advisory.
While no heat advisories had been issued as of Tuesday morning, parts of southern Ontario and Quebec are also expected to see high temperatures in the mid-20s to low 30s this week.
At 9:00 a.m. EDT Tuesday morning, it was 15 C in Toronto and Montreal and 14 C in Ottawa.
Rainfall warnings
In Alberta, areas including Calgary and Edmonton are under rainfall warnings. According to Environment Canada, between 40 and 120 millimetres of rain have been reported across the province so far, with some localized amounts of 135 mm in southwestern Alberta.
An additional 5 to 10 mm is expected to fall Tuesday.
“Heavy rain will taper off to showers through the day,” the advisory says.
“Water will pool on roads and in low-lying areas. Local utility outages are possible.”
Environment Canada advises Canadians not to drive through flooded roadways, highlighting washouts near rivers, creeks and culverts.
