HEAT WAVE: Tomorrow could be the hottest day in Toronto ever

How the GTA handles the heatwave blanketing the city


Keep your fan on high and your water bottle handy: Thursday could be Toronto’s hottest day ever.

The temperature is expected to reach a scorching 38 C. Toronto has only been that hot once, when it reached 38.3 C on August 25, 1948 according to measurements at Pearson airport.

Factor in the humidex and Thursday will feel like somewhere in the mid to high 40s.

Of course, this being the weather, it will be difficult to tell exactly how hot it will be.

If it doesn’t quite beat 38.3, Thursday could still be the hottest July day on record, beating out the 37.6 C high on July 7, 1988. Temperature records at Pearson have been kept since 1937.

Friday is projected to cool down to a more reasonable 32 C, but highs above 30 C are forecast through the weekend.

“We’re talking about excruciating temperatures,” said David Phillips, a senior climatologist at Environment Canada. “It’s very unusual.”

Overall, nine days this month have reached temperatures higher than 30 C. “We’ve already had a year’s worth of days above 30,” Phillips said.

The extreme heat is caused by a high-pressure system sitting over the city that’s warding off weather and keeping the jet stream well to the north, Phillips said.
Tomorrow July 21st could be the hottest day in Toronto ever, and a heat wave in the city has been upgraded to 'extreme.'

As the sun relentlessly beats down on the GTA with no relief in sight, how are you coping with the heat?