Extreme heat in store for Toronto with temperatures that may prompt warning

Toronto residents should brace for a stretch of very hot weather early next week.

A “multi-day heat event” is in store for Toronto from Sunday to Wednesday with temperatures expected to exceed 30 C, meteorologists say.

“This will be the first prolonged series of temperatures in the low 30s that we’ve seen this year,” Steven Flisfeder, a meteorologist for Environment Canada, said on Wednesday.

Flisfeder said temperatures are expected to be relatively cool on Thursday, with a high of 22 C, but will rise gradually during the rest of the week. Temperatures will rise again on Sunday and then into early next week, when they are forecast to be in the low to mid 30s.

Humidex values, which reflect how hot it feels, could be in the mid to upper 30s, and in some areas, in the low 40s.

Record-breaking heat possible: meteorologist

CBC meteorologist Colette Kennedy said the heat will begin in earnest on Sunday, with peak heat and humidity are expected on Monday and into Tuesday. 

“This event is expected to bring record-tying and record-breaking heat, particularly on Monday. It will meet heat warning criteria and has the potential to be life-threatening,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy said the event will also meet the criteria for an Environment Canada heat warning.

The federal weather agency, according to its website, issues a heat warning when two or more consecutive days of daytime highs are expected to reach 31 C or warmer and nighttime lows are expected to be 20 C or warmer, or when two or more consecutive days of humidex values are expected to reach 40 or higher.

‘Drink plenty of water and stay in a cool place’

On its website, the agency says a multi-day heat event is expected from Sunday to Wednesday.

“Drink plenty of water and stay in a cool place. Watch for heat related illness,” the message reads.

The city of Toronto’s “heat relief strategy,” which aims to reduce the incidence of heat-related illness and death, includes more than 500 publicly accessible facilities that may provide air-conditioning and respite from heat.

Those facilities include public libraries; civic centres, community centres, public swimming pools, public splash and play pads and wading pools, shopping malls and YMCA centres.

Diana Chan McNally, a community worker, said the city needs to bring back dedicated cooling centres for unhoused people. She said she is worried about the heat event.

“It’s expected that people who were homeless will find cool spaces on their own,” Chan McNally said.

“But without that dedicated infrastructure, we’re talking about going to a children’s splash pad, going to a swimming pool when you probably are going to be stigmatized and not allowed in that space, or going to a shopping mall where you may actually be profiled,” she said.

“I know that the available services are not going to be adequate to meet people’s needs.”

There is not only a lack of cool space but also a lack of hydration, she said. 

Chan McNally called on the city to launch a hydration strategy to deliver bottles of water to unhoused people and ensure that water gets to people living outside.

‘When it gets hot, it just slows everything down’

Sarah Bay-Cheng, a Toronto resident, has to go outside everyday to walk her dog but she said she’s not a big fan of the heat. 

“When it gets hot, it just slows everything down, you can’t do as much outside. I’ll be happy when the heat breaks,” she said. 

“We’ll probably be doing more often shorter walks just because it gets really hard on her and also frankly it’s really hard on me.”