GTA cooking under week-long heatwave

An employee from an outdoor eatery hangs a revised menu in Minneapolis July 18, 2011.(Eric Miller/REUTERS)

After one of the wettest springs on record, Toronto is now under a dry spell with no relief in sight.

In the last 25 days, the city has seen only 6.4 mm of rain when we should normally have gotten 63 mm, said Dave Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada.

“We’ve had a tenth of what we normally would get in a three-and-a-half week period,” he said.

But Phillips doesn’t expect the record for the driest July — which was set in 1957 with 11.5 mm of rain — to be broken this summer.

“You can get one gullywasher, you see, and a record won’t be set.”

Record or not, Phillips says, it’s dry in Toronto and next week’s forecast doesn’t look much wetter.

There is a 30 per cent chance of rain on Sunday or Monday but Phillips it’s unlikely the sky will bless us with moisture.

“I don’t even carry an umbrella for 30 per cent chance. It’s not a done deal. We’re in it for the longhaul,” he said.

The last substantial rainfall was in June, and ironically, it was on the first day full day of summer when Toronto saw 21 mm of rain. The day before, we got 15 mm.

“In that two days, we had 36.4 mm of rain. That was a significant dose of moisture — almost what you’d expect in half-a-month, we got in two days. Yet over the last 25 days, we can barely get a thimble full of rain,” said Phillips.

“Could you imagine what Toronto would look like if we didn’t have one of the wettest springs on record?”

The lack of rain and cloud cover is turning the city into a sauna.

The city has extended a heat alert today, which will likely be the coolest day of the week at 30C with a UV index of 9, or very high.

Thursday is set to break records with a high of 38C, feeling more like the mid- to high 40s with the humidex reading. The mercury will drop toward the weekend, but only slightly, hovering around 30C.

The city advises residents to drink plenty of water, avoid going outside during peak sun hours, wear loose clothing and limit physical activities.

Phillips’ advice to Torontonians: be kind to trees.

“Be good Samaritans. Hug and adopt a tree and water it because it will please you later on when it bursts forth with brilliant colours in the fall.”

Amanda Kwan, with files from Zoe McKnight

• TOP 6 HOT WEATHER PHOTOS:

1. Participants in Drums Across Kansas, featuring eight elite drum and bugle corps from around the country, take a water break in Valley Center, Kansas.

(Mike Hutmacher/Wichita Eagle/MCT)

2. Gymnasts play in a fountain to cool down in hot weather, on the second day of the World Gymnaestrada in Lausanne.


(Valentin Flauraud/RETUERS)

3. Youths jump into the water at Laaerbergbad swimming pool on a hot summer day in Vienna.


(Lisi Niesner/REUTERS)

4. Estella Willis, left, and Joshua Boardman beat the heat as they cool down under a garden hose in the town of Hudson, Que., near Montreal.


(Graham Hughes/CANADIAN PRESS)

5. Declan Lee-Smith, from Sydney, Australia, tries to beat the heat by surfing the rapids along the St. Lawrence River in Montreal.


(Ryan Remiorz/CANADIAN PRESS)

6. Jazia Pratt, 8, fills a bucket with water from a fire hydrant in the afternoon summer heat in Philadelphia.


(Matt Rourke/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Comments

[borisb]

No rain? Boo-hoo. Toronto is always complaining when it rains a bit. Now they have what they want - all sun and no rain! North of the city we appreciate the need for rain, and we're getting both rain and nice weather.

[matt]

i hate summer in this region

[mhmmm]

The only time it rains when there is a 30% chance is when you take the motorcycle to work instead of the car. Now if you take the car to work instead of the motorcycle when there is a 70% chance of rain, it won't rain. Seems to always happen that way.

[kl]

Boo-Hoo!
No one in Toronto is Complaining. The north of the city arrogance is running rampant though.

[Camilla]

Well, I'm loving the heat and lack of rain. It could stay like this for the entire summer, and I would be very happy!!