

Chris Fox, CP24.com





Environment Canada has issued a heat warning for the City of Toronto ahead of what is shaping up to be the hottest weekend in three years.

On Saturday, the city is expected to see a mix of sun and cloud with a high of 30 C but with the humidity factored in it will feel closer to 38 C. The temperature is then expected to rise even further on Sunday, hitting a high of 31 C but feeling closer to 39 C with the humidity.

The scorcher of a weekend is set to become the first one in three years in which the daytime highs on both Saturday and Sunday top 30 C. The last time that happened was July 14 and July 15, 2012 when the mercury hit 30.8 C and 31.4 C respectively.

Meanwhile, the last time the temperature even reached 30 C in the city was on Sept. 5, 2014.

“Right now we are locked in with clouds, we have drizzle and showers and we have an east wind coming off Lake Ontario and all three are cooling mechanisms,” CP24 Meteorologist Chris Potter said Friday afternoon. “Once we start losing those cooling mechanisms it will really start to warm up and by tomorrow it will be 30 C and it will feel closer to 40 C.”

Though the temperatures are expected to be blistering this weekend, the city has not yet issued a heat alert of its own, which would trigger the opening of a number of 24-hour cooling centres and result in extended hours at a number of public pools.

Ordinarily, the city only issues heat alerts when the temperature is forecast to hit 31 C on two consecutive days or the humidex tops 40 C on two consecutive days.

For further information about when the city issues heat alerts follow this link.

The heat warning issued by Environment Canada covers a large swath of Southern Ontario, including the entire GTA.

Remember for instant breaking news follow @cp24 on Twitter.