Heat gets worse in Canada

August 1, 2006

Extreme heat alerts have been issued in Hamilton and in Toronto.

Temperatures are expected to go into the mid 30s C (80-90s F) with the humidex expected to reach into the high 40s C (117-120 F).

Smoggy air is expected to move into the Toronto-area on Tuesday from the Windsor to London corridor, where a smog alert was also in place on Monday.

The heat has been compounded by severe storms over the weekend in southwestern Ontario and the Peterborough area.

Almost 31,000 residences were without power for a couple of hours in Peterborough County after a storm was in the area, uprooting trees and knocking down hydro poles. It also tore a roof off a house.

The City of Toronto opens public cooling stations at the East York Civic Centre, Etobicoke Civic Centre, North York Civic Centre and Metro Hall.

Toronto set a new record for any date when the overnight temperature did not go lower than 27 C (aprox. 84 F) overnight, besting the record of 26.5 set in 1999. The daytime humidex hit 47 C (aprox. 117 F) by mid-day and was expected to go slightly higher in the afternoon.