Heat wave brings record breaking October temperatures to the capital

The city of Ottawa is feeling summer-like temperatures heading into the Thanksgiving long weekend.

A temperature of 29.6 degrees Celsius (C) was recorded at the Ottawa Airport at 3 p.m. on Oct. 3 which surpassed the 2005 record of 26.2 C.

The all time record high for Oct. 3’s temperature in Ottawa was 29.4 C set at the Central Experimental Farm in the 1890s.

Temperatures are predicted to reach 30 C on Wednesday, Oct. 4 exceeding a record high of 27.7 C in Ottawa, on Oct. 4, 2005.

David Phillips a senior climatologist with Environment Canada, told The Sam Laprade Show on Oct. 3, Ottawa has never seen a temperatures hit 30 C or above this late in the season.

“It’s the time of year that makes this so spectacular,” said Phillips. “Even if you look at records that go back 134 years, we’ve never seen a temperature that warm.”

He explained, Ottawa’s seeing temperatures around 15 C warmer than expected for this time of year – typically reaching daytime highs of 15 C.

“When you think about what nature has to go from a low of say 13 C right up to 30 C is quite something,” he added. “There are fewer hours of daylight in October and nature has to work overtime to bring these temperatures that would be warm on the dog days of summer.”

With unseasonal temperatures in Ottawa, the peak of this unusual stretch of warmth is expected to arrive Wednesday afternoon, said Jessie Uppal, CityNews meteorologist.

Ottawa is predicted to break another major record, and it would become the latest 30 C temperature reading in the city’s history, she added.

Currently, the latest 30 C reading in Ottawa was recorded on Sept. 27, 2017.

While leaves typically fall off trees by the end of September, Phillips attributes less heat stress over the summer months to prolonged fall leaves, this year.

Additionally, he explained that warmer fall temperatures could be the reason behind ‘muted’ leaf colours, so far this season.

“We’ll see some wind and rain (over the long weekend) and that should take a few of the leaves off trees but I really think the peak season is yet to come,” added Phillips. “Sometimes, it comes after Thanksgiving and I think this year is one of those years.”

From a climate change perspective, Phillips pointed out there’s clear evidence humans are having a significant effect on weather and we’re seeing this in the form of recent weather extremes – such as droughts and forest fires.

While the climatologist said he does not link these record high temperatures directly with human impacts – including carbon emissions – trends show the world has been warming, over time.

“We had the warmest summer on record – not in Ottawa, Toronto or Southern Ontario – but a huge amount of the country is dominated by the Arctic,’ he explained. “We’ve never seen the Arctic so warm, as well as British Columbia and Alberta, so we really set a lot of records.”

With blistering temperatures recorded globally, Canada saw it’s hottest summer in 76 years, and some of the nation’s worst wildfires ever recorded in Nova Scotia, as well as Hurricane Lee in southeast Canada.

“In all of the years we’ve been tracking hurricanes, it (Hurricane Lee) started off as being the third of fourth most fierce on record, but it didn’t end that way coming through Atlantic Canada.”

As climate variations become more prevalent, Philipps said Canadians are changing the way they view weather, gradually letting go of the idea of ‘normal seasonal weather.’

“Summer’s are hot and winter’s are cold – that’s how we would describe climate years ago, but now it’s expect the unexpected, you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

The real issue is that our policies, plans and procedures are based on our ‘normal’ expectation of weather patterns, and we’re not necessarily ready for this wilder, more unpredictable weather, Phillips explained.

“It’s interesting but also quite upsetting, and we see the cost of things going up because weather seems to be on the more extreme side,” he expressed. “I don’t think it’s going to get any better, it’s going to be what other surprises does nature have up her sleeve.”