MONTREAL -- After a cool start to the month of May, it seems Mother Nature has made up for lost time.
For the last week, daytime highs in Montreal have been above average, climbing above the 20-degree mark. Yesterday, Montreal recorded its first 30-degree reading of the season, hitting a high of 30.8 degrees Celsius. (The normal high for May 20 is 20 degrees Celsius.)
Outside the city, temperature records were broken in places like Saint-Jovite and Val-d’Or where temperatures also climbed up around the 30-degree mark.
Today could be a record-breaking hot day for Montreal. The forecast high in the city is 31 degrees Celsius and it will feel closer to 34 when you factor in humidity. (The record high for May 21 is 30.6 degrees Celsius set in 1977.)
The heat and humidity will stick around to kick off the holiday long weekend triggering unsettled weather. The high temperature on Saturday is expected to be in the upper 20s with humidex values in the low 30s.
Temperatures will gradually drop through the holiday long weekend, and by Monday the high is expected to be slightly below average at 19 degrees Celsius but sun will return.
The drop in temperatures will be nowhere near as significant as what residents of the Prairies have experienced this week.
Parts of Western Canada have seen a return to winter weather, with snowfall warnings and freezing rain warnings in place from the foothills of Alberta into southern Saskatchewan.
Regina started the week basking in summer heat with temperatures soaring into the 30s on Monday and Tuesday. By Friday morning, the temperature had dropped to the freezing mark, and the city was under a freezing rain warning.
Fortunately, there is no sign of that extreme cold from Western Canada making its way east. After a brief and minor cool down on holiday Monday, temperatures in Montreal are expected to climb back into the mid to upper 20s for the rest of next week.
