Saskatchewan completely covered in heat warnings

Heat warnings are now in place for the entire province.

The prolonged heat wave started in northern and west-central Saskatchewan over the weekend and by Monday and Tuesday it had stretched to include most of the southern sections of the province.

It wasn’t until early Wednesday morning that warnings were put in place for the entirety of the southeast including the Regina area.

These warnings are issued when there is little or no reprieve from the warm temperatures during the normally cooler overnight period.

Environment Canada meteorologist Kyle McAulay says intense heat could be the norm for a few weeks.

“We will get a bit of relief early next week, like Monday, Tuesday, but it really looks like the next two weeks or so we will be close to these 30-degree temperatures,” McAulay said. “Avoid overly strenuous activities outside especially during the hottest part part of the day from around noon to 6 p.m.

“Don’t overexert yourself and take care of others, too.”

It’s not just Saskatchewan that is dealing with heat warnings. Most of British Columbia remains under a warning, Alberta is completely covered and parts of Manitoba are beginning to be placed under a warning as well.

“There is a big chunk of the country that is covered,” McAulay said. “It’s a pretty a pretty large ridge in the west and it’s slowly moving into the east.”

The town of Lytton, roughly 260 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, set a new Canadian record for heat for the third consecutive day.

At 4:20pm, Lytton Climate Station reported 49.5°C, once again, breaking the daily and all-time temperature records for the 3rd straight day. Final numbers and all other temperature records will be posted later this afternoon. #BCStorm pic.twitter.com/jYpvxM0iIy

— ECCC Weather British Columbia (@ECCCWeatherBC) June 29, 2021

The record of 49.5 C in the small town on Tuesday was slightly hotter than the 47.5 C record on Monday and the 46.6 C on Sunday.