In a special weather statement, Environment Canada says southern Saskatchewan and Southern Manitoba are expecting a long duration heat event, starting on Friday and extending into late next week. During the event, humidex values are expected to peak around 45.
Terri Lang, Meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada said when it comes to weather, this year has been far from normal. Recent severe flooding in the region will definitely contribute to the high humidex expected during this heat event.
"There's certainly contributions from all the standing water that is around, as well as the crops, when they're growing very quickly right now, give off a tremendous amount of moisture, and the air is also coming up from areas that are full of moisture as well, so that's what contributes to the humidity...every summer there's usually severe thunderstorms with everything, tornadoes, heavy rains and such, but this years is particularly active," said Lang.
Whenever there are heat events like this, Environment Canada always recommends keeping an eye out for heat stroke, heat exhaustion, and other serious medical concerns that can come from heat. Lang said especially with the inconsistency of hot temperatures this year, the prolonged high heat and humidity could be a shock to a lot of people.
"Seek shade, drink a lot of water, and for those that are really sensitive to the heat, avoid it as much as possible, and try and find cool places...we really haven't had a lot of heat so far this year, so I think people aren't yet acclimatized to it," said Lang.
Click here to view Environment Canada's fact sheet on safety during heat events.
