We are currently experiencing a historic heat wave in Quebec, the earliest ever recorded of all time, when several cities have been breaking heat records for two days, including one that dates back 130 years in Montreal.

Yesterday, on the side of Montreal and Quebec, the thermometer rose to 31.2 ° C, a record since 1992, according to preliminary data from MétéoMédia.

The day before, the temperature which reached 30.3 ° C in Montreal broke an old record dating back 130 years.

On May 12, 1893, the mercury had risen to 28.9°C, according to Environment Canada.

“It happens one year out of three that we reach 30°C in May. It's relatively innocuous. This year, we waited a very long time before having heat, on the other hand it arrived all of a sudden”, analyzes Jean-Philippe Bégin, meteorologist at Environment Canada.

Several other municipalities have also exceeded historic thresholds for May 12.

A hasty heat

According to the meteorologist, what is rather exceptional is to have three consecutive days with temperatures above 30°C, a threshold which should still be reached today according to the forecasts.

"It would be the earliest heat wave ever observed in Montreal since data was recorded in 1871," says Bégin.

Prior to this, the earliest heat wave in the province began on May 20, 1911, he said.

Just yesterday, we recorded 31.1 ° C around 5 p.m. in Quebec, a record since 1998, and 30.8 ° C at the same time in Montreal.

In the afternoon, the hottest spot in Canada was in La Belle Province, more precisely in La Baie, in Saguenay, where the mercury reached 33.9°C.

soon to be finished

However, Quebecers had better take advantage of this last day of sunshine since the heat wave will run out of steam tomorrow.

"Sunday, it will be more clouds, there is a pattern of showers in some places and cooler temperatures", drops Jean-Philippe Bégin.

Temperatures are also expected below normal for the season as of Tuesday, according to him. In Montreal, a maximum of only 12°C is expected.

People north of Quebec City might even see a few snowflakes falling from the sky, but no accumulation is expected, assures the meteorologist.

Thusday

30,3 °C 

31,8 °C 

31,6 °C 

30,6 °C 

31,7 °C 

HERE

31,2 °C 

31,2 °C 

33,8 °C 

30,1 °C