The territory’s capital reached a high temperature of 32.6°C on Monday August 2nd, breaking the record for the warmest day in Yellowknife history.
According to The Weather Network, the previous all-time high temperature for the city was 32.5°C on July 16th, 1989.
A seasonal high temperature for Yellowknife at the beginning of August is historically about 20°C.
Kevin MacKay, a meteorologist at The Weather Network, says even with the all-time hot weather, 32.6°C was still low compared to other communities across the territories.
“It’s all about the pattern. To get the heat this far north, you need everything working together,” adds MacKay.
The highest temperature ever recorded in the NWT was 39.9°C in the Fort Smith area earlier this summer during the late-June heat wave that roasted Western Canada.
MacKay says Yellowknife’s low all-time temperature is the product of its location as the city sits on the northern shores of Great Slave Lake.
“What we had over the last few days was a Goldilocks situation. We had the synoptic warmth because the high pressure was right around the 60th parallel, you had some downsloping from the mountains and the wind direction was perfect to avoid Great Slave Lake,” adds MacKay.
Monday’s heat record came amid a heat wave that covered much of Western Canada this past weekend for daytime highs that climbed into the low 30s.
