Saskatchewan cooks under heat warnings

Saskatchewan residents will be sweating through a couple more days of blistering temperatures before a return to normal conditions.

Heat warnings continued Monday for southern and west-central Saskatchewan with daytime temperatures expected to climb into the mid-30s C.

The heat warnings were expanded on Sunday to include Regina, but Saskatoon fell just short of Environment Canada’s threshold of two consecutive days with highs of 32 C or more and overnight temperatures at or above 16 C.

“(It’ll be) anywhere from 32 C up to 38 C in the southwest corner of the province, so very hot,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Brad Vrolijk.

“Stay in the shade if you can. Drink lots of water. Limit your outside exposure, especially if you are more sensitive to heat.”

While the weather agency recommends people take precautions, Vrolijk said the latest round of blistering temperatures won’t be quite as unbearable to deal with.

“Unlike some of the heat we’ve seen lately, where it’s also very humid and sticky, it’s not too humid at all,” he said. “In some places, it’s a very dry heat. As long as you’re able to get out of the sun, it’s not too hard to cool off.”

Heat exhaustion isn’t the only side effect of hot weather; the chance for severe weather also goes up, according to Vrolijk.

“The best chance of thunderstorms, at least for severe weather, is pretty much Meadow Lake southeastward to the Moosomin area, including Saskatoon, Humboldt and Yorkton,” he said. “Kind of along that corridor, we’ll see a chance of thunderstorms over the next 24 to 36 hours.”

A break from the heat comes on Wednesday with temperatures falling back into the mid-20s C.

SaskPower offers energy-saving tips

SaskPower said it’s expecting high demand Monday and Tuesday as people try to stay cool with air conditioning.

The Crown corporation offered some tips so people can conserve electricity and help prevent strain on the grid. Those included:

• Ensuring their home is being cooled only when needed. For every degree that air conditioning is lowered for an eight-hour period, customers could save up to two per cent on power costs;
• Closing blinds and window coverings during the daytime to keep the heat out, and ensuring all doors and windows are closed tightly; and
• Delaying activities that produce heat and moisture, such as dishwashing or laundry, into the evening when temperatures are cooler.

More tips can be found here.