The first heat wave of the year will be arriving this weekend with temperatures expected to soar in the 30-plus degrees range.
Local weather watcher David Brain says the heat wave is being caused by warm air travelling north from the Gulf of Mexico.
“We are finally going to see temperatures get above normal for this time of year,” Brain said.
“It’s going to start at the end of this week with temperatures around 24 to 27, and then on Sunday, we might hit 32 degrees. Then it looks like 30 to 32 degrees right through until next Thursday.”
Brain says locals can use the hot week to gear up for a humid and sticky summer that he projects is ahead for the region.
“Most models are showing a very hot summer, anywhere from two to three degrees warmer than normal,” he said.
“We are going to get a more dominant eastern ridge which will keep warm air coming up from the Gulf of Mexico. Out west, we will have more of a trough where it will be cooler than normal.”
Brain says the increased summer heat and a lack of rain will impact local beaches.
“It’s going to be a bonus for places like Wasaga Beach, as the water levels are retreating,” he said.
“The water levels have declined up to 30 to 60 centimetres so far this year because of the lack of rain and runoff from the well below-normal snowfall.”
Brain acknowledges climate change could play a factor in the warmer temperatures, however, he believes this year’s heat waves are related to a weather pattern.
“This is a cycle for the Great Lakes. We went through this in 1985 and 1987 when water levels were at record levels, and then all of the sudden in 2013 and 2014 everybody is saying the lakes are so low they will never recover. Then we hit more records again. It’s a cycle that we keep on going through,” Brain explained.
Brain’s models are also showing that precipitation is going to be sparse this summer; there is only six to 10 millimetres of rain forecasted in the next week.
“There could be an issue with forest fires if we continue into this hot weather, we are probably going to see a lot more accidental fires starting,” he said.
The dry weather will also present many challenges for local farmers, Brain says.
“Getting the corn crops going with a lack of moisture is going to be difficult. We ended up only getting 27 millimetres of rain for the month of May, and normally we get 77.”
Some local farmers are worried about the heat and, more importantly, lack of rain in the forecast.
“For smaller vegetable farmers we generally have irrigation, but for the large cash croppers it’s going to severely affect things,” sad Greg Kamphuis, owner of Camphouse Farm in Oro-Medonte Township.
“It’s going to severely affect the amount of hay you can get, how the corn grows, it will affect everything," he warned.
Kamphuis says no rain is bad news for even smaller farmers with irrigation systems.
“I do an acre of potatoes that have no irrigation, and the rain is just a far better way to water,” he said.
“I have friends who don’t have irrigation at all, so they are going to be in a pinch.”
