With the forecast climbing higher into the 30s, there is one central message being put out by meteorologists, public-health officials, and social advocates: stay cool and keep hydrated.
"We have water on hand and are one of the cooling stations in town," said Suzan Krecsy, executive director of the St. Albert Food Bank. "We can always use a bit more water since this heat wave looks like it might hang around for a bit longer."
As the Woodlands Water Play Park and Grosvenor Outdoor Pool were scenes filled with the baking masses trying to beat the heat, Fountain Park Recreation Centre had to shut down on Monday afternoon, the results of a massive blackout that affected more than 9,000 customers throughout St. Albert and northwest Edmonton. A raven making contact within AltaLink’s North Calder Substation, rather than peak electricity usage for an army of household air conditioning units, was determined to be the cause.
The outage lasted for about an hour, leaving many at home sweltering in the dark as they hid from the scorching sun. That day, Edmonton reached 32.6 Celsius, breaking its previous record for hottest temperature ever measured. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were expected to be hotter.
For those without homes, there was no reprieve. Edmonton's inner-city agencies have been sounding the clarion call to spur greater and greater donations of bottled water to help the area's at-risk populations.
"We think we're going to be giving away somewhere between 1,500 to 2,000 bottles of water a day just to keep our folks hydrated. That's significant," said St. Albert's Dean Kurpjuweit, the executive director of The Mustard Seed in Edmonton.
The Christian non-profit organization cares for people experiencing homelessness and poverty. It issued a press release on Wednesday saying that it had already gone through a few hundred of cases of water within the last week even with temperatures staying mostly in the 20s. Even that is enough to make anyone break a sweat, especially if they're outside all day long.
Potentially 'historic'
Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Justin Shelley said there is a large upper ridge that's building off the coast of British Columbia right now. Most of B.C. and all of northern Alberta are already under a heat warning. While St. Albert and Edmonton aren't quite in the danger zone, we will still certainly feel a lot of the heat.
"It's a pretty anomalous and potentially historic event that's shaping up right now. Temperatures that haven't really been seen for many years are expected to unfold across the province starting this weekend and persisting into next week," Shelley said.
"It's definitely possible that mid-30s are going to be reached across a large portion of the province. Forty degrees is yet to be seen, whether that will occur or not."
For reference, he said the hottest temperature ever recorded in Alberta was 43.3 Celsius in 1931.
"Even if we come somewhat close to that, it's pretty historic heat."
The other part that makes this forecast somewhat unprecedented is how long it will last, he said.
"The last time the Edmonton region, for instance, had temperatures of 32 or above for five days in a row was 1961. The longest run of 30 degrees in a row was also 1961."
This heat wave of 30 degrees and up could go for a week, if not longer.
He said that throughout this heat wave, it is recommended to reschedule outdoor activities to the cooler parts of the day and keep in touch with loved ones who might be at higher risk for heat illnesses. He also said to drink plenty of water even before you start to feel thirsty.
"You might become dehydrated in a heat event like this even before you start to feel thirsty."
Hot irony
With ice cream shops doing great business, you might think tanning salons would be experiencing the opposite. After all, who would pay to get a tan when the sun is out there doing it for free?
"I thought we'd be slow because of it but I actually found it picked up because people don't want to be out there. They're avoiding out there, but they still want their little boost of vitamin D. They've come in here to get it in a more controlled way," stated Kaitlin Adam of Fabutan at Village Landing. "Plus, we have air conditioning."
The keyhole operation typically sees 15 to 30 clients per shift during this time of year. Current attendance is definitely higher, she said.
"Normally, summer in general is slower because people can get the sun outside, but for today, people don't want to get the sun outside. That's too much sun. They come in here for a little bit and then hide in their houses again."
