You could have been fooled by how things felt downtown, but hot as it was, Moose Jaw fell short of breaking any heat records yesterday.
We nearly hit 30°, but according to Environment and Climate Change Canada Meteorologist Crawford Luke, we had a long way to go.
“In Moose Jaw yesterday it was 29.7°, and the old record is 36.7°. It was a hot day, but still 7° off the mark for a record,” said Luke, adding that we do have at least a fighting chance at a new record today.
“(Today’s record) was set in 1980, and it was 36.1°, so it's a bit lower than yesterday's record. And of course, we're expecting it to be hotter today. So, if there's a chance of setting a record this week, it’s going to happen today, but it’s still probably a bit of a tall order.”
If you were looking for some serious heat yesterday, the west and southwestern portion of the province were where you wanted to be.
“The provincial hotspot yesterday was 35.3° in Leader. There's also 34.8° in Maple Creek, they're a close second,” he said.
In third place for heat was Val Marie, which peaked at 34.3° yesterday. Other communities that were also on the hotter side of things include Swift Current with a high of 32.8° recorded at their airport, Coronach at 32.6°, and Assiniboia with 32.3°.
The streak of above-normal temperatures is set to end today—at least for Moose Jaw—the forecast today calls for a high of 33° with sunshine, wind and some cloud cover rolling in through the evening.
“I think Moose Shaw could see a thunderstorm or some showers overnight. I think it's definitely possible, but it seems like the better likelihood of (storms) is a bit further north and west,” said Luke.
“In terms of severe weather like it doesn't quite look as (likely) in the Moose Jaw area, but it kind of looks like it skips you guys and then just kind of heads over to Manitoba tomorrow.”
He added that more severe weather, such as hail and strong wind, is more likely to hit areas around Kindersley and Saskatoon as the system makes its way eastwards.
Going forward, Luke noted that the forecast is looking a lot more favourable as the weekend approaches.
“It kind of looks like some normal July temperatures to close out the week after today's hot day, which is kind of nice,” he said.
It should be a nice weekend—which I'm sure people always like to hear—and then maybe some rain early next week.”