Heat Wave: Definition - At least 5 consecutive days with daytime highs at least 5 degrees hotter than average.



Average high for Edmonton the next 10 days: 22-23 degrees.



Forecast Highs for the next 10 days: 26-33 degrees.



The "official" heat wave could start as early as today.

That'll depend on how hot it gets tomorrow.

There's a chance we "only" get to 26 tomorrow, which would push the official start of the heat wave to Sunday.



It IS coming though. The only real question is: "just HOW hot will it get?"

GEM model is projecting highs of: 28 Mon / 30 Tue / 31 Wed.

GFS model is projecting highs of: 30 Mon / 32 Tue / 34 Wed.

The only time Edmonton's downtown weather station has hit 30 on Canada Day is 1924. It was 35.6 degrees.

I have 30 in the forecast for Monday, so...that'll be just the SECOND time Edmonton has EVER hit 30 degrees.



If that's STILL not hot enough for you...go north.

GFS model is calling for highs between 35 & 40 in Grande Prairie Tue/Wed/Thu.



A lot of people are asking whether that heat will be accompanied by storms.

It takes more than just heat to trigger thunderstorms & it appears the upper ridge will prevent storms from popping up late Sunday/Mon/Tue.

However, there IS a good chance of thunderstorms (possibly severe thunderstorms) late Saturday.

It's too early to get a REALLY good handle on the risk of storms for Wed/Thu/Fri next week but there are indications we COULD get into a late-day storm risk by the middle or end of next week.



Looking Long Range:

Highs in the 25-30 range may stick around right through to the middle of July.

Remember back in April when we said that "cool" spring weather is usually followed by hot summer weather?

Well, it looks like that pattern is going to hold for this year too.



Here's the forecast for Edmonton:



Today - Sunny with a few clouds.

High: 27



Tonight - A few clouds.

Low: 14



Saturday - Sunny in the morning. Increasing afternoon cloud.

70% chance of late-day showers or thunderstorms.

High: 27



Sunday - Clearing Mainly Sunny.

Morning Low: 16

Afternoon High: 28



Monday - Mainly sunny.

Morning Low: 15

Afternoon High: 30



Tuesday - Mainly sunny.

Morning Low: 17

Afternoon High: 31



Wednesday - Partly cloudy.

Morning Low: 16

Afternoon High: 30