A hot summer that blanketed Southwestern Ontario with heat and humidity isn't about the loosen its grip now that the calendar has flipped to September.
A heat warning remains in place for the region as daytime high temperatures are expected to exceed 30 C on Wednesday. Humidex readings are likely to hit 40 C. There have been six heat warnings in the London to Windsor corridor this summer, compared to only three last summer and seven in the summer of 2016.
“It’s because we didn’t have a summer last year that we forget summer can be warm,” said Gerald Cheng, a meteorologist with Environment Canada. Cheng said the current heat and humidity are caused by an air mass from the south and that September will end up with above normal temperatures.
“It doesn’t mean we won’t have some cool stretches, but on the whole, we’ll come out slightly above normal,” said Cheng. “Looking ahead, we are looking at October to be slightly above normal as well.”
According to Cheng, with the hot and humid weather comes the risk of thunderstorms. The region has had a number of thunderstorm watches and warnings over the last few weeks. During one recent thunderstorm in Windsor, lightning even struck a house.
Cheng said people can “breathe a sigh of relief,” as we head into this weekend. Seasonal - and cooler - temperatures are ahead.