a day ago
Smoke from forest fires offers slight respite from searing heat: Environment Canada
Sunrise is seen east of Leamington, Ont. on July 14, 2025. (Source: Mary Jane MacVicar)
As a heat wave continues to grip southern Ontario, many people are wondering when they will get some relief.
Environment Canada issued a heat warning for the region and says a shift in the weather pattern late this week will likely end the multi-day period of heat and humidity Thursday night.
Speaking on AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides, Environment Canada Senior Climatologist David Phillips, says there have been only a few days where Windsor-Essex has not been under a heat warning.
'It's really been since the first day of summer, in the last 23 days, say three weeks, 18 of these days have been above 30 in Windsor,' Phillips said.
The weather service also issued a special air quality statement due to a combination of smoke from forest fires.
According to Phillips, the smoke actually helps cut down temperatures.
'Instead of 32 for a high, it might be 30 because the smoke gets in the way of the sun, you don't get the broiling temperatures at the surface, and so it doesn't get up to that kind of 32, 33, but boy, it's still uncomfortable and we know that the water temperatures are also exceedingly warm,' he said.
When it comes to the air quality, Phillips says Windsor's air quality is nowhere near as bad as it is up Highway 401.
'Windsor is a little far away from the forest fires in northern Ontario and Manitoba, so the air quality is not as bad, not as unhealthy as it is in Toronto, the GTA, and places to the east,' Phillips said.
At one point on Monday morning, Toronto's air quality was ranked second worst in the world, according to data from Swiss air quality tracker IQAir.
— Dustin Coffman/AM800 News
Here's a look at the rest of the forecast
Tuesday: Sunny. Hazy. High 31. Humidex 35. UV index 10 or very high.
Tuesday Night: Clear. Hazy. Low 20.
Wednesday: Mainly cloudy with 40 per cent chance of showers and risk of a thunderstorm. Wind becoming southwest 30 km/h in the afternoon. High 31. Humidex 40. UV index 7 or high.
Thursday: Cloudy with 60 per cent chance of showers. High 30.
Friday: A mix of sun and cloud with 30 per cent chance of showers. High 26.
Saturday: Cloudy. High 26.
