Hot sun and warm temperatures greet parade-watchers and party-goers this weekend

Hot and sunny at Ashbridges Bay on a beautiful Saturday morning by Lake Ontario. Dave Cooper/Toronto Star

The thousands of Torontonians lining the streets for the Caribbean Carnival and parade could blister in the sun this holiday weekend, with high temperatures and a very high UV index.

The festival formerly known as Caribana kicks off Saturday morning at 10 a.m. with the Grand Parade starting from Exhibition Place.

• Photos: Sunny Saturday

About 20,000 masqueraders and musicians will dance and perform soca, calypso, reggae and salsa music down the 1.5-kilometre route on Lake Shore Blvd. W., which is closed from Strachan Ave. to Colborne Lodge Dr.

The weather is perfect for the weekend-long outdoor celebrations. With an expected high of 30 C and a UV rating of 9, or very high, and just a few clouds in the sky, forecasters are warning revelers to wear sunscreen to avoid a burn, especially between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the sun is at its strongest.

“Extra precaution [is] required – unprotected skin will be damaged and can burn quickly,” Environment Canada warns on the weather office website.

The self-proclaimed largest Caribbean festival in North America, the 44th annual carnival is expected to attract more than a million participants for the weekend-long jam.

And as the party winds down Sunday evening, there is a slight risk, at 30 per cent, of rain or thundershowers in the forecast.

Zoe McKnight, Staff Reporter

Hundreds of Beach Volleyball players worked up a sweat on the sand and people strolled and cycled along the waterfront. DAVID COOPER / TORONTO STAR

Deadly Korean landslides bring landmine warning

South Korean soldiers shovel mud after a flood caused by heavy rains hit the area around an apartment complex in Seoul on Thursday. Tens of thousands of South Korean troops joined a massive clean-up after record-breaking rainfall killed dozens. (PARK JI-HWAN/AFP/Getty Images)

SEOUL, South Korea - Thousands of rescuers dug through thick mud for survivors of deadly landslides and flooding as South Korea's military warned Thursday that buried land mines may have slid down mountains weakened by rain.

Massive rainfall in Seoul and surrounding areas since Tuesday has killed at least 47 people, and another four were missing. The rain stopped or decreased Thursday, but more was forecast until Friday morning.

At a mountain where a deadly slide hit Wednesday, digging for missing people was halted Thursday until the rain stopped because the Defence Ministry said mines placed there in the 1960s could have shifted. Soldiers with metal detectors were waiting to search for the mines, said Yoon Yong-sam, a spokesman for the air force, which planted the land mines around an air defence base on the mountain.

A defence ministry official said earlier that 10 mines could have been pushed down Wumyeon Mountain. The official declined to be named because of policy. Another ministry official, spokesman Kim Min-seok, played down the immediate risk because a concrete wall on the hillside could be stopping the mines from reaching rescue workers.

South Korea's military dug up many land mines on the mountain between 1999 and 2006, but about 10 couldn't be accounted for, officials said. Fences around the base have warnings about unaccounted land mines.

There were also fears of land mines in northern provinces also hit by flooding and slides, prompting the Joint Chiefs of Staff to order mine-search operations where needed.

The landslide Wednesday in southern Seoul killed at least 16 people. About 5,000 firefighters, soldiers, police officers and others mobilized Thursday to try to find any survivors and clean walls of mud piled in residential areas near the base of the mountain, emergency official Kim Wu-min said.

Bae Jin-sun, a 27-year-old who works in southern Seoul, said she was worried about the safety of rescue workers near the mountain.

"There is still the possibility of a land mine falling through the cracks," she said.

Footage by YTN television network showed excavators removing a mass of mud and fallen tree parts and rescuers in raincoats shovelling up the dirt piled up near an apartment. Uniformed soldiers and firefighters wearing cotton gloves used their hands to pull out rocks and tree branches from the mud.

Another landslide early Wednesday killed 10 college students sleeping in a resort cabin in Chuncheon, north of Seoul. The students from Inha University in Incheon, just west of Seoul, were volunteering at a local elementary school.

The National Emergency Management Agency reported 18 more deaths because of a stream flooding and landslides elsewhere in towns near Seoul. No deaths of foreigners have been reported.

The rainfall left almost 5,000 people homeless, flooded about 1,380 houses and caused power outages at more than 125,000 homes throughout the country, the National Emergency Management Agency said in a statement Thursday.

The 17 inches (440 millimeters) of rain that fell on Seoul on Tuesday and Wednesday was about 15 times more than the average two-day rainfall at this time of year, according to the state-run Korea Meteorological Administration.

-- The Associated Press

Vehicles are submerged in floodwater after heavy rain in Seoul on Thursday.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

People work to restore a road damaged by a landslide in Seoul on Thursday. South Koreans were cautioned about rogue landmines and explosives after a series of deadly landslides in and around the capital Seoul swamped military sites. (REUTERS/Truth Leem )

Thousands of rescuers used heavy machinery and shovels Thursday to clear mud and search for survivors. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean soldiers remove debris at a damaged apartment. (AP Photo/Bae Jung-hyun, Yonhap)

River of mud buries sleeping students in Korean landslide

A street in Seoul after torrential rain pounding South Korea triggered landslides that killed dozens of people. (JANG SEUNG-YOON/AFP/Getty Images)

SEOUL, South Korea - Walls of mud barrelling down a hill buried 10 college students sleeping in a resort cabin and flash floods submerged the streets and subway stations in Seoul, killing at least 32 people Wednesday in South Korea's heaviest rains this year.

The students were engulfed by a landslide in Chuncheon, about 68 miles (110 kilometres) northeast of Seoul, said fire marshal Byun In-soo. A married couple and a convenience store owner also died.

Witnesses interviewed on television said the landslide sounded like a massive explosion or a freight train. They described people screaming as buildings were carried away by rivers of mud.

About 670 firefighters, soldiers, police and others rushed to rescue those trapped and extract the dead from the mud and wreckage in Chuncheon, where 24 others were injured and several buildings destroyed.

In southern Seoul, 16 people died when mud crashed through homes at the foot of a mountain, the National Emergency Management Agency said. Three others also died after a stream just south of the capital flooded, and 10 people were reported missing throughout the country, the agency said in a statement.

Fast-moving mudwaters filled the streets in Seoul on Wednesday, sending residents scrambling to the roofs of their partially submerged cars.

Water filled some subway stations and spewed from sewers. TV images showed people in one flooded subway station using shovels, brooms and a wooden board in an effort to keep more rain from coming in.

Footage showed officials rescuing hikers stranded on mountainsides. People plodded down streets covered with knee-deep water, many barefoot, their pants rolled up. In Seoul's centre, cars were restricted from entering the lower part of a submerged two-level bridge.

The heavy rain since Tuesday left about 620 people homeless and flooded 720 houses and about 100 vehicles throughout South Korea, the emergency management agency said.

About 17 inches (440 millimeters) of rain fell on Seoul and more than 13 inches (340 millimeters) on Chuncheon in the last two days, about 15 times more than the average two-day rainfall at this time of year, according to the state-run Korea Meteorological Administration.

Weather officials said another 10 inches (254 millimeters) could fall in northern South Korea, including Seoul, through Friday.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency issued a traffic emergency, mobilizing more officers to deal with the inclement weather.

Seoul, a bustling capital of 10 million, shut down portions of two major highways stretching along each side of the main Han River because of high water levels, said disaster official Kim Ji-hwan.

A dam located just east of Seoul was discharging 16,400 tons of water per second, said Cha Jun-ho from the Han River Flood Control Office. The dam already discharged about 1,000 tons per second days before the recent downpours.

People in Seoul, where smartphones are ubiquitous, posted dozens of photos on Twitter and Facebook showing inundated streets and mud-covered cars. Many complained online that Seoul had neglected to prepare for the downpours.

--The Associated Press

People try to climb on top of a car on a submerged road in Seoul. (AP Photo/Yonhap)

Damaged cars are seen at a village after a landslide and heavy rainfall in Seoul July 27, 2011. (REUTERS/Park Mun-ho/Newsis)

Rescue workers and residents try to escape floodwaters after a river burst its banks following heavy rains in Gwangju, about 40 km southeast of Seoul. (REUTERS/Kang Jong-Min/Newsis )

South Korean soldiers begin the clean-up in Seoul. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Cars are submerged by floodwaters along a Seoul street. (Photo credit should read YANG HOE-SEONG/AFP/Getty Images)

South Korean rescue workers in Seoul. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Kim Ju-sung)

July’s been dry, but it’s not a record-breaker

Despite an arid stretch with scorching temperatures in the 30s, Toronto did not break the record for the driest July.

The record was set in 1957 with 11.4 mm of rain, but that mark was passed on Saturday evening alone, when four hours of showers delivered 13.2 mm.

Prior to Saturday, the city had received a mere 4.4 mm of rain in the entire month.

The showers were followed by a three-hour thunderstorm early Monday, which caused several power outages throughout the city.

However, the rainfall tally since the start of the month remains well below the July average of 74.4 mm.

“In a cool, dry month, it wouldn’t have been nearly as noticeable,” said Dave Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada.

Phillips called this morning’s storm “the million dollar rain.”

“I know I got soaked this morning walking from the GO train to my office,” he said, “but I couldn’t care less.”

Monday’s storm also brought cooler weather to Toronto, prompting the city to cancel an extreme heat alert that was posted five days ago.

Phillips says a weak cold front came through the city on Sunday, bringing the humidex values down to the low 30s — relatively comfortable weather compared with muggy air we were experiencing last week.

“People must have felt they were in the Caribbean,” he said.

While the rain will provide some moisture for dehydrated vegetation, it won’t give us green lawns, Phillips said.

“We need a monsoon to solve the problem and this is not a monsoon,” he said, adding that the recent storm is not a trend but isolated activity.

More showers are expected throughout Monday with an expected high of 28 C.

There is also 30 per cent chance of showers Tuesday and a possibility of rain Thursday but the forecast for upcoming long weekend looks dry and sunny, with temperatures in the low 30s.

- Amanda Kwan, with files from Aleysha Haniff

Tornado warnings called off

All tornado warnings for southwestern Ontario have ended.

Tornado warning issued for parts of southwestern Ontario

Environment Canada is warning people to that tornados could hit overnight Saturday tonight in parts of southwestern Ontario.

Areas that could be affected include Strathroy, Komoka, Western Middlesex County, Eastern Middlesex County, London, Watford, Pinery Park, Eastern Lambton County, Woodstock, Tilsonburg, Oxford County, Simcoe, Norfolk, Delhi, Rodney, Shedden, Western Elgin County, and Parkhill.

People in these areas are advised to seek shelter immediately and carefully monitor conditions.

Heat alert extended

The extreme heat alert has been extended in Toronto as temperatures are expected to hit a scorching 34 C today, feeling more like 40 C with humidity.

This is the fourth day in a row that the city has been under an extreme heat alert.

To make matters worse, the city hasn’t seen substantial rainfall since July 3. There were light showers Friday night but it was “just a sprinkle” — not even enough to measure, according to Tony Cham, a meteorologist at Environment Canada.

Since the start of July, Toronto has seen only 4.4 mm of rain when the norm for this time of the year is about 74.4 mm.

The driest July ever was set in 1957 with 11.4 mm of rain.

Cham says it is hard to predict whether Toronto will break the record this year since there are still nine days left until the end of the month.

But relief may be in sight.

There is a 30 per cent chance of showers Saturday evening and a 60 per cent chance of rain Sunday night into Monday morning.

“There’s still some hope,” Cham said.

Meanwhile, to cope with the extreme heat, the city has opened cooling centres across Toronto and some city pools may extend their operating hours.

Much of the United States and Canada are trapped under a heat “dome” caused by a huge area of high pressure that’s compressing hot, moist air beneath it and keeping the jet stream well to the north.

This high-pressure system is leading to scorching temperatures like the ones Toronto saw Thursday when the mercury hit a sweltering 37.9 C, the highest July day temperature ever recorded at Pearson airport but just shy of the 38.3 C record set on August 25, 1948.

The smog that sometimes accompanies hot weather is nowhere to be seen, though. The city’s only had one smog day this summer. In 2005 — a similar year temperature-wise — there were 20 by this time.

There have been fewer smog days partly because of improved air quality, said Kate Jordan, a spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Environment.

In the past eight years, the province has seen reductions in fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide — the two main ingredients in smog, Jordan said. But weather also plays a role. “While we’ve had really warm and sunny weather, we haven’t had stagnant air pressure and the hazy conditions,” she said.

This is because the winds blowing through Toronto are not coming from the south, which typically brings in dirtier air and higher humidity, she adds.

 

Toronto's thirsty! City approaches record for driest July ever

After a parched, scorching month, it may turn out this was the driest July on record, forecasters say.

Observations at Pearson Airport indicate the city has seen no rain since July 3, and just 4.4 millimetres of rain in total fell in the last 4 weeks.

“That would be enough to keep the dust down and that’s it. Toronto hasn’t had a drink of water in 18 days,” said Dave Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada.

The driest-ever July was in 1957, with 11.5 millimetres of precipitation. That means that the city would have to see a good 7 millimetres of rain before the end of the month, or risk breaking that bone-dry record.

What’s worse is that this heat-wave of a July, with its humidex advisories and recent extreme heat alerts, is making the need for water all the more pressing.

Although Thursday’s high, at 37 degrees, did not break the all-time record for a high temperature at Pearson, it was the hottest day of the year, the hottest July 21 on record, and the hottest day in the month of July ever recorded in Toronto.

“We’ve had less precipitation and the effects are much greater now because it’s been much hotter. A lot more days above 30, and the average temperature 2.2 degrees warmer than normal,” Phillips said.

But there could be relief in sight as Environment Canada reports a 30 per cent chance of showers early Saturday morning. Sunday might also be inclined to give us a break, with a 60 per cent chance of rain.

But that doesn’t mean you can let up on the sunscreen, as Saturday’s high is 35C and Sunday’s is 29C.

Sunday is expected to be cloudy, but Saturday will likely have a UV index of 9, or very high.

There have been 13 days in July logged at temperatures above 30. “So even if we get some rain between now and August 1, we probably would be in a worse dry situation [than 1957] come the end of the month,” he said.

Meteorologist Marie-Eve Giguere explained why summer thunderstorms are typically so common in southern Ontario.

To produce a storm, three elements are required. “You need moisture, which no doubt is in the air mass. And you need instability. So with the heat, you have an unstable air mass. You need a third thing, a trigger,” Giguere said.

Cold fronts typically provide the trigger, by pushing the warm, humid air up, creating clouds. But the minor cold front that moved in over the GTA yesterday was simply too weak to make it rain.

“It’s still pretty sultry and oppressive,” Phillips said. Friday’s high is expected to reach 35.

The weak cold front “wasn’t enough to trigger anything,” he said. The closest chance of rain is Monday, at just around 30 per cent.

Elsewhere in the province, firefighters are battling forest fires in northern Ontario that have forced thousands from their homes.

The province said 114 fires are burning over nearly 500,000 hectares of forest, mostly in the northwest.

The hot, dry conditions are making it difficult to stamp out the flames.

Zoe McKnight, Staff Reporter with files from the Canadian Press

When is a temperature record not really a temperature record?

Will Thursday’s temperature soar to a record level?

Well, the answer to that could depend on which statistics you use.

According to measurements taken at Pearson airport, Toronto’s heat record was set on Aug. 25, 1948 when it was 38.3 C.

Measurements at Pearson started in 1937. In 1936, downtown temperatures on July 9 were measured as high as 40.6 C, and the temperature reached 40 C three times between July 8 and 11.

But those measurements are less reliable and shouldn’t be considered the record high, said David Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada.

“Downtown, it’s hard to get the numbers right,” he said. Using downtown measurements alongside those at Pearson is “like comparing apples with oranges,” he added.

The reliability issue comes in partly because of the urban heat island effect, which is mostly caused by heat-retaining materials such as asphalt and concrete. In addition, the downtown measurement site at the University of Toronto has changed places since 1936, whereas Pearson’s hasn’t, Phillips said.

The official record, then, is that 38.3 C day in August 1948.

Even if today’s mercury doesn’t crack 38.3 C, it could still be Toronto’s hottest-ever July day. That benchmark was set on July 7, 1988, when it reached 37.6 C.

-- Michael Woods, Staff Reporter

Trapped in a pressure cooker

For the millions of people enduring this week’s extreme heat and humidity, it feels like they’re living in a pressure cooker. And in a sense, they are.

Much of the United States and Canada are trapped under a heat “dome” caused by a huge area of high pressure that’s compressing hot, moist air beneath it, leading to miserable temperatures from 35 C to 40 C and humidex levels well above 40 degrees. The oppressive conditions extend from the northern United States to Texas and from the west coast to the Ohio Valley. And they’re expanding eastward.

When a high pressure system develops in the upper atmosphere, the air below it sinks and compresses because there’s more weight on top, causing temperatures in the lower atmosphere to heat up, said Eli Jacks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Silver Spring, Md.

The dome of high pressure also pushes the jet stream and its drier, cooler air, farther north — it’s now well into Canada — while hot, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico circulates clockwise around the dome, travelling farther inland than normal.

Combined with generally clear skies and the sun’s higher summertime angle, “it gets really hot,” Jacks said.

Thunderstorms can develop around the perimeter of the dome — called the “ring of fire” — bringing temporary relief to some areas, said Kevin Birk, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Illinois. But this dome is so large that the heat rebuilds quickly, Birk said.

While heat domes aren’t uncommon, this one is unusual because of its size and duration. It began three days ago and may last seven to 10 days in some locations.

But relief is on the way. Cooler air should begin moving into the central U.S. this weekend, as a strong pool of air from the jet stream begins to push hot air out of the way before making its way east. By Monday, temperatures will drop to about 29 C in the north, while they still could be sweltering in the east of the country, he said.

“This is really an exceptional event, I think it’s fair to say . . . in terms of scope and duration,” Jacks said.

The Associated Press