Heat wave breaks 118-year-old record
Environment Canada says high temperatures are just the beginning of what is expected to be a hot summer in the NWT
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Thursday, May 14, 2015
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
A five-day heat wave in Fort Simpson has broken a 118-year-old record.
Cadence Erasmus, left, and Jaicee and Nylaina Tsetso couldn't stand the heat in Fort Simpson on Tuesday. The community recently broke a 118-year-old record after a five-day heat wave brought temperatures in the high 20s for several days in a row in the middle of May. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo
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"It's one thing to break a one-day record," said David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment
Canada. "It is near impossible to break five days of records."
Temperatures from May 10 to 14 in Fort Simpson hovered around 27 and 28 C.
That is more than 10 degrees warmer than the usual high during this period. Two weather stations in the village have tracked temperatures since 1897. This year's May 10, 11 and 12 were the hottest in recorded history. The last time temperatures were this high in Fort Simpson was August.
"Here we are not even at the half point of May," said Phillips.
"It is quite an unusual bout of weather. I'm not sure people are happy about it or worried about it."
And it's not the end of the heat.
"Our models show for May, June, July and August we think the northwest of Canada will be warmer than normal, even warmer than last year," said Phillips.
Warm air from the southern end of the continent is being pressed down over the region and raising the temperature.
Phillips said it's not a worry right now but if high temperatures continue and there is no precipitation, that could create forest fire hazards.
He called the current climate a "no-weather zone."
"I often think the weather you're blessing may be the weather you're cursing later on," he said. "You always want that balance in nature."
