Ottawa sweltering under extreme heat this weekend

It's the hottest day of the year in the city of Ottawa, as a heat warning continues to grip the national capital region this weekend. 

The temperature hit 31.7 C at 4 p.m., the warmest temperature recorded in Ottawa so far in 2022. The humidex made it feel like 41 degrees this afternoon.

"That's very unhealthy, very uncomfortable. Doesn't matter how fit or athletic you are," Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips said.

A heat warning remains in effect for Ottawa, Gatineau and all of eastern Ontario, with Environment Canada calling for highs in the low 30s and the humidex making it feel like 40 degrees this weekend.

"This is tropical air. This is moisture coming from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean often called the Bermuda High, pumping like a heat pump all this warm air northward," Phillips said.

"A good part of the eastern part of the country and millions of Canadians are going to be affected by this."

Claude Goddard doesn’t have air conditioning in his Lowertown apartment, so he decided to spend Saturday outside under a tree.

"I got a double fan… it exhausts the heat from the apartment and throws it outside," Goddard said. "If I keep the windows and doors closed, I don't get so hot."

An expecting mother found the weather unbearable while at a swimming pool with the family.

"If I'm not near water, I'm not outside – not in this heat," Dana Brenton said, at the Balena Park wading pool.

The 31.7 C was the warmest temperature of the year so far. The record high at the Ottawa Airport for Aug. 6 is 35.1 C, set in 2001.

CANADA'S HOT SPOT

Gatineau was the hot spot in Canada at 6 p.m.

The temperature at the Gatineau Airport was 32.5 C.

The warmest temperature in Gatineau on Saturday was 32.7 C at 5 p.m.

OTTAWA FORECAST

The forecast calls for a partly cloudy evening, with a low of 22 C.

Sunday will be mainly cloudy with showers beginning later in the afternoon. Amount 5 mm of rain. The high will be 31 C, with the humidex making it feel like 40.

Showers will continue Sunday evening, with 20 to 30 mm of rain expected. Low 20.

Relief is on the way for Monday, with a high of 24 C.

The outlook for Tuesday is cloudy and a high of 21 C.