Montreal breaks heat record as warm temperatures continue

Another day of sunshine for Montrealers and the city breaking a temperature record from 2005.

A high of 28 Celsius degrees was felt by 2 p.m., but it felt more like 33 C with the humidex.

The heat is “exceptional” for this time of year, says Environment Canada meteorologist Jean-Philippe Bégin.

“In Montreal, we matched the previous record, but we broke a couple of records throughout the western and southern part of the province,” he told CityNews. “We can expect a few more records to break for (Wednesday) and (Thursday).”

It’s been a two-week stretch of clear skies and dry weather with above-average temperatures.

Montreal tied a record for the warmest Oct. 3 on Tuesday set in 1953 as the city reached 26.7 degrees.

While singe-day records are being broken for high heat, Bégin says it’s not the warmest October on record.

“I looked at the first half of October 2021, which is only two years ago, we had the warmest first half of October on record,” he said. “Two years ago… 10 days with temperatures above 20 degrees in the first 16 days. But the maximum temperature during that period was near 24. So although it wasn’t that extreme for a daily perspective, when we look at the first half of October, that was really, really exceptional.”

More sun is forecast for Thursday, with a high of 29 C that will feel like 32 C.

Bégin calls it the “last breath of summer,” and described it as the summer Montrealers never really got.

“We didn’t have a really warm August,” he recalled. “And in fact, we didn’t have a really warm, let’s say, starting from July 10, more or less, to the end of August, we didn’t really have a lot of warmth. So yeah, it’s kind of the summer that we didn’t have during the summer.”

Things will start to cool down as of Friday, but still above seasonal, with a 30 per cent chance of showers and a high of 24.

A wet and cold long weekend is expected, with 13 C on Sunday and 11 C on Thanksgiving Monday.

“So we’re looking at a shift of temperatures to more fall-like temperatures and more rain,” said Bégin. “So we’re looking at a low pressure system developing on the east coast of the United States-Canada border near the Bay of Maine. And that, combined with tropical storm Philip, that should impact the Maritimes and the eastern part of Quebec. So we’re looking at a storm system.”

The cool temperatures will continue into Tuesday, with a high of 12 C and a 40 per cent chance of showers.