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This is no ordinary run-of-the-mill heat wave that has brought brutal heat and sticky humidity to an area stretching well beyond Southwest Ontario.
It’s a rare hot weather event dubbed a heat dome — a thick blanket of uncomfortable hotness that Environment Canada has declared “dangerous” to humans living under it.
“It’s a real killer,” David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, told the Windsor Star.
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Phillips, who has Windsor roots, means that literally. He said heat is now killing more Canadians than cold — in a country most of the rest of the world associates with snow and blizzards and Arctic.
Heat dome is not an official term you’ll find in the Lexicon of Meteorology, but Phillips said it’s “very descriptive.”
It was used to describe a weather system that descended on B.C., Alberta and much of the continent’s west for up to two weeks in 2021, leaving behind a new high-temperature record for Canada (49.6 C in Lytton, B.C.) and 670 heat-related deaths in those two provinces.
Phillips’ definition of heat dome is a massive high-pressure system that lingers in place and has a high ceiling. The higher that upper limit, the more weight is pressed down — “the heat is trapped and the sun bakes it,” he said.
The current system stretches from Atlanta, Georgia, to Atlantic Canada.
Windsor, said Phillips, is near the centre and will likely see a seven-day stretch — “the longest we’re going to see in Canada” — of days exceeding 30 C.
With the humidex, the days will feel more like in the 40s Celsius, but the nights will offer little relief, with lows expected to remain in the 20s until Monday.
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“They’ll be tropical nights … this is one of the elements of climate change,” said Phillips.
Phillips is a climatologist but he applauds his Environment Canada meteorologist colleagues for taking the extra step of not just simply providing the weather forecast but also offering warnings and suggestions, like drinking plenty of water and wearing light, loose clothing.
The prolonged heat event, the federal agency again warned on Wednesday, is expected to bring “dangerously hot and humid conditions.”
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Mayor Drew Dilkens, at an outdoor news event under a hot sun on Monday, reminded the public that Windsor has numerous options for those seeking cool relief, particularly those who can’t find it at home.
“If you need a cooling centre, our community centres are open, our libraries, our pools, all of those facilities are open. Come in and enjoy, cool down, and let’s just take care of each other,” the mayor said. There are also 11 free splash pads open daytime at parks across the city.
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“I think the message should be, let’s make sure we’re looking at our neighbours, checking in on our neighbours, especially if they’re elderly,” said Dilkens. “Make sure we’re checking that they have water, that they have cooling available to them.
“Let’s just be supportive of each other as a community.”
And brace for more of this, Phillips warns.
“This is pretty gruesome, (but it’s) just a dress rehearsal for what we’re going to see the rest of the summer — we’re still a month away from the dog days of summer.”
On the tail of Canada’s hottest year on record, Environment and Climate Change Canada has forecast above-normal temperatures across most of Canada for this summer.
— With a file from Taylor Campbell
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