2006 North American Heat Wave - Canadian Heat

Canadian Heat

Parts of Canada, mostly areas of provinces located close to the U.S. border (Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec) had been affected in waves by the persistent heat over the continent building from west to east during the month of July, which progressed into August 2006. Persistent heat and drought had plagued some of the same regions of the country during the previous summers of 2002, 2003, and 2005, although large, frequent storms brought above normal rainfall to many areas in Ontario and Quebec during those years.

By mid-month, temperatures had soared to 42.1°C (107.8°F) at Lytton, British Columbia, with three straight days topping 41 °C (105 °F). Although various daily records were broken, the only overall monthly record in a major city was in Winnipeg, Manitoba where July was not only the driest on record but also had the highest average maximum temperature of any July. In Val Marie, Saskatchewan, the average daily maximum July temperature was 32.3 °C (90.2 °F), about 5 °C (9 °F) higher than average.

Just north of Toronto at Buttonville Airport, the temperature reached 37.8 °C (100.4 °F) on August 2, 2006. On the same day, the nighttime minimum temperature in Toronto was the highest ever recorded, only dropping to 27.2 °C (81 °F). In Ottawa, the temperature reached 36.3 °C (97.5 °F), but with close to 80% humidity factored in, it reached an all-time humidex record of 48 °C (118 °F).

Record power consumption was recorded in Ontario when close to 27,000 MW were used by consumers, beating out a record from the previous summer.

Powerful thunderstorms affected parts of Ontario and Quebec on July 17 and July 30 in Peterborough, in eastern Ontario(Ottawa area) in the early morning hours of August 1 and again in Quebec, centred around Montreal that same evening. More than 450,000 people lost power in Quebec in that storm. On August 2, more storms associated with a relieving cool front caused heavy damage over a wide swath of central and eastern Ontario, resulting in 175,000 residents losing power and thousands of felled trees blocking roads. Seventeen tornadoes were confirmed for August 2-3 ranging from F0-F2 in strength, the largest single day tornado outbreak in Ontario eclipsing the 14 recorded during a 1985 outbreak. The intensity of these storms was fueled by the heat bubble to the south. These series of storms killed at least four people and injured many others, in addition to extensive property damage and forest destruction.

After early August 2006, the heat only had a sporadic impact through the remainder of the month, mostly in the West. Temperatures returned to normal or even below average in other parts of the country for the remainder of the summer.