Ontario Heat Wave Shatters Decades-Old Records
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
Temperatures in the province have reached levels not seen since the Great Depression.
Ontario is currently enduring a severe heat wave that is matching and breaking numerous temperature records, some dating back nearly a century. According to reporting from BlogTO, Environment Canada has issued a yellow heat warning for Toronto and most of the province, with Toronto temperatures potentially hitting 38 C on Tuesday afternoon and feeling like 45 C due to humidity.
On Monday afternoon, The Weather Network reported that Armstrong, a rural community roughly three and a half hours north of Thunder Bay, hit 40.7 C. This marks the hottest temperature seen in Ontario since the 1936 heat wave, an event that occurred during the Great Depression and resulted in over 5,000 deaths across North America. While the 1936 event saw slightly higher peaks—such as 42.2 C in Atikokan on July 11-12 and Fort Frances on July 13—the current surge is breaking other critical benchmarks.
Other record-breaking temperatures reported by BlogTO include:
* **Thunder Bay:** Reached 39.5 C on Monday, surpassing a 1975 record of 37.2 C. * **Atikokan:** Set a new all-time July temperature record on Monday at 38.2 C, beating a 2013 record of 37 C. * **Toronto:** Tuesday's high of 36 C matched the city's hottest temperature of 2026, previously recorded on Canada Day. * **Sioux Lookout:** Briefly held the record for Canada's highest 2026 temperature on Sunday at 38 C before being surpassed by Armstrong.
BlogTO further notes that since records began at Pearson Airport in 1937, temperatures in the city have only exceeded 37 C on six occasions, with the all-time record being 38.3 C on Aug. 25, 1948.