Edmonton entering heat wave after weeks of cool, wet weather

The sun is beating down, there isn’t a cloud in the sky, and after what felt like a gloomy July, it’s heating up in Edmonton.

At the Kinsmen Park spray park, families were excited to get out and enjoy this warm weather, with daytime highs expected to reach 30 degrees Celsius for the rest of the week.

Being able to enjoy an outdoor picnic is a nice break for some, feeling there was too more than enough rainclouds and dark skies over the last two and a half weeks.

But Environment Canada says the amount of rain in July is actually less than our 30-year average, saying this is one of the coolest summers in the last five years, following recent hotter-than-average summers.

“It’s been a little bit of a rollercoaster in temperatures and definitely seeing that heat finally after a very long cooler stretch in the city,” said Christy Climenhaga, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Edmonton activated its extreme weather response Wednesday, opening up hydration stations and city-owned buildings to help the vulnerable community with the heat that is expected to last until Saturday morning.

Edmonton’s temperatures are forecast to dip back into the lower twenties this August long weekend.