of a stretch of extreme heat that is said to be heading towards the Southern districts, moving in from the United States over the coming week. “It’s over B.C. and Alberta. It’s going to persist for some time… We’re expecting it to go at least a week and we actually don’t know the full end when we’ll cool below extreme heat temperatures,” Sara Hoffman, a meteorologist with the government department said.
She noted that B.C. is expected to record the highest temperatures from this event, followed by Alberta, as the heat moves into Slave Lake, Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary. “We are forecasting daytime highs in the mid-30s — so the 35 to 36 °C range — we’re anticipating it to get that hot,” she said.
She noted that given the oppressive temperatures, combined with the duration of the event, this would make it a very uncommon stretch of extreme heat in Alberta. According to Hoffman, groups of the public who are most at risk are older adults, those experiencing homelessness and individuals who have pre-existing health conditions. Nevertheless, she advised everyone residing in these areas to stay hydrated and avoid strenuous activities in peak heat hours during this period.
She also noted that the weather department cannot attribute one extreme whether event to climate change or global warming. “But what we can say with pretty good certainty is that with the changing climate, we expect more frequency and severity of heat-related events like this in the future,” she added.
