Northern Canada seeing record-breaking heat in May, here's where
CTV
Wednesday was a historic day in parts of Canada. Previous heat records were shattered across the country as many communities experience higher-than-normal temperatures.
After an inconsistent April flip-flopping between hot and cold, some parts of Canada are now experiencing temperatures much higher than the normal average for this time of year.
A number of heat records were broken in Canada's western communities, including in a town in the Northwest Territories, where the temperature was much hotter than in many cities located much further south, and high enough to break a 125-year-old record.
A high-pressure system brought higher-than-normal temperatures to parts of B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories earlier this week, and stuck around into Thursday, prompting some weather warnings.
"This is where temperatures will exceed 29 C in the afternoon and likely not dip low enough overnight to provide much relief," Kelsey McEwen, CTV Your Morning's chief meteorologist, said on Thursday.
On Thursday, Environment Canada issued a heat warning for portions of northern Alberta including the communities of Edmonton, Fort McMurray and Athabasca. The early heat and lack of rain have already ignited three grassfires outside Edmonton this week.
The temperatures hit an all-time high for many regions the day before.
Further north in Hay River, N.W.T., residents experienced a peak temperature of 31 C, making Wednesday the warmest May 3 on record, breaking the previous record of 27.2 degrees in 1898.