Record temperatures near 30 degrees hit the Arctic Circle

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Andrea Bagley

Digital Reporter

Wednesday, July 6, 2016, 12:19 PM - The heat is ON. Not only are parts of eastern Canada in the midst of potential heat wave new record high temperatures have been smashed in the north. Way north.

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On Tuesday, Kugluktuk, Nunavut, which is located in the Arctic Circle, nearly cracked the 30 degree mark.

The area hit a high of 29.2°C, smashing the previous record of 28.1°C set back in 1994.

Will be chatting about new record high in Nunavut, #Kugluktuk is in the Article Circle which starts at 66.5 ° N pic.twitter.com/92d7iybtZo — Jeff Harrington (@JHarringtonTV) July 6, 2016

Why the high heat?

"Simply put, an area of high pressure and an unusually warm air mass is hovering over the region," says Weather Network meteorologist Kelly Sonnenburg. "That combined with southerly winds is what helped to contribute to these record high temperatures."

Although temperatures won't be as hot for the rest of the week, they'll still remain above seasonal.

"The seasonal average for this time of year in Kugluktuk is only 15°C," Sonnenburg says.