Temperatures hovered near 30 degrees Celsius across large parts of northern regions on Tuesday, including areas inside the Arctic Circle, prompting Environment Canada to issue multiple heat warnings. The heatwave started over Canada Day weekend and is expected to last through the week. Several temperature records were broken on Monday, including areas well above the Arctic Circle such as Inuvik, NWT. There, temperatures reached 31.8C, breaking the record of 29.5 degrees set in 1998. More than 3,600km south in Vancouver, temperatures were at least 10 degrees colder. Summer in many northern regions also means 24-hour sunlight. While temperatures are expected to drop into the low teens and twenties over the next few hours, towns like Inuvik won’t see sunset for another two weeks when the sun drops below the horizon about an hour earlier on July 20. In all, temperature records have been set in at least three areas in the Northwest Territories (Inuvik, Paulatuk and Tuktoyaktuk) and six in the Yukon (Burwash Landing, Carmacks, Faro, Haines Junction, Kluane Lake and Teslin). Carmacks, located between Whitehorse and Dawson City, also saw temperatures of 31.8C on Monday. almost three points higher than a record set in 2021. In the Yukon, hot conditions and lightning have sparked at least 20 fires a day since the Canada Day weekend began. There were 104 active wildfires in the Yukon on Tuesday, officials said, compared to 36 on the same date last year. “Yukon is experiencing unprecedented levels of lightning-triggered fire activity right now,” Mike Fancie of Yukon Wildland Fire Management told The Canadian Press. The Yukon meanwhile is dealing with flooding and evacuations in some areas. The fires have prompted Environment Canada to issue air quality statements in both the Northwest Territories of the Yukon and the Northwest Territories, where the flames are also being fought. As of late Tuesday afternoon, Environment Canada heat warnings were still in effect for more than a dozen areas in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, including Whitehorse, Dawson, Inuvik and Fort Simpson. According to Environment Canada, “Heat Alerts are issued when conditions of very high temperatures or humidity are expected to pose an increased risk of heat illness, such as heat stroke or heat exhaustion.” With files from The Canadian Press
