Humid start to a hot, dry week

Toronto is a week away from the “dog days” of summer but we’re already experiencing the heat.

“We really need some rain,” said Dave Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada.

In the last 17 days, Toronto has had only 6 mm of rain when we normally get 41 mm at this time of the year, he said.

“We’re really down and you can see it. The grass looks more like hay right now.”

The only moisture we’re going to see this week is on Monday, which will be a hot and sticky day with the humidex in the high 30s, Phillips said.

But the good news is that we’ll see winds of 20 km/h today gusting to 40 km/h in the afternoon, which will help evaporate some of the moisture from our skin, he said.

There is also a 60 per cent chance of showers and thunderstorms this afternoon that will alleviate some of the heat, he said.

But the rest of the week will be dry and hot with temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s.

“It’s going to be a delightful week. Is anyone really complaining?”

The long-term forecast includes warmer than normal temperatures and below average levels of precipitation

Even though we need the rain, Phillips says people are afraid to jinx the sunny weather.

“There’s a little nervousness given the wet spring,” he said.

A similar heat wave is hitting the United States this week in the Midwest, the Plains and the Southeast.

Fifteen states are under heat advisories as record temperatures hit as high as 44 C.

-- Amanda Kwan, Staff Reporter

Comments

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it is disgusting out there today... i am sorry, but you can't really do a whole lot in this weather and if you do, you are polluting your lungs with smog.