Soaring daytime highs Wednesday prompted weather alerts and sent Winnipeg residents searching for a spot to cool down.
Temperatures were set to reach 29 C by mid-afternoon, as southern Manitoba braced for a heat wave expected to settle over the region and remain until early next week.
Environment Canada issued a weather warning to alert the public to prepare for temperatures above the seasonal average, meteorologist Justin Shelley told the Free Press.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Tyrece Viner (left) and Samuel Hezekiah waited less than 10 minutes to get into the St. Vital Outdoor Pool Wednesday afternoon.
Daytime highs are expected to peak at 32 C on Thursday and reach a similar high Friday. Current projections show the temperatures will exceed 20 C overnight on both days, Shelley said.
“It’s going to be quite warm,” he said. “When you factor in the humidity, it’s going to feel closer to 40 C.”
The weekend will bring “a slight reprieve” — particularly during Saturday and Sunday night, when the mercury will dip to 17 C and 18 C, respectively — but the days will continue to exceed 25 C until next Tuesday, Shelley said.
There is the potential for thunderstorms to strike Saturday “as all of this heat and humidity builds,” he said.
Shelley advised the public to pay attention to weather forecasts and limit their chance of heat exhaustion by staying hydrated and finding places to cool off.
Friends Samuel Hezekiah and Tyrece Viner were trying to do just that Wednesday, as they waited in line at the outdoor pool in St. Vital.
The pair arrived at the city-run facility shortly after it opened at 12:30 p.m. to find more than a dozen people clamouring to get in. Fortunately, they didn’t expect to wait long.
“I’m not a big swimmer, but… we are trying to cool down, honestly. It’s hot inside the house, outside the house,” Hezekiah said,
“The line was long (when we showed up), by it’s going by pretty quickly.”
Viner said the lineup at the St. Vital pool was similar to others he’d seen elsewhere in the city in recent weeks, including at the Transcona Aquatic Park where he typically goes.
“People are just trying to enjoy the weather wherever we can,” Viner said.
“I think it’s personally better for kids to be outside swimming, rather than in indoor pools. You don’t get a lot of summertime in Winnipeg.”
The high temperatures were hard to handle for some in St. Boniface, where the outdoor Happyland pool was bone-dry after the city’s decision to shutter it, said Teresa Cwik, president of the South St. Boniface Residents Association.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Winnipeg city council voted to close Happyland Pool this year and begin public consultations on a possible new aquatics facility in St. Boniface.
“What about today? Today is really hot, and what about tomorrow and next week? Everyone has got warnings about the heat on the news, but yet (the city) has shut down the pool,” Cwik said by phone.
“I’m hoping that (Mayor Scott Gillingham) will reconsider.”
Council voted to close the pool this year and begin public consultations on a possible new aquatics facility in St. Boniface, after hearing the aging Happyland pool would need $3.6 million in capital spending just to maintain it over the next 10 years.
In May, city officials said it would cost $190,000 to open, staff and obtain permits for the pool this year alone.
“Rather than put more funds into an old facility… we’re investing in other pools,” Mayor Scott Gillingham told reporters this week.
“The focus is now to turn and look to the future to develop an aquatics plan for St. Boniface that is more robust.”
Matt Allard, the area’s councillor, will lead the charge on the project, Gillingham said.
City officials released a list of resources where people can get clean water and reminded residents to “check on vulnerable family, friends and relatives” during the heat wave.
The city has installed eight hydration stations, including downtown, the North End and West End.
Public facilities such as leisure centres and libraries can be used as cooling areas during regular operating hours, the city said.
tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca
Tyler Searle
Reporter
Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press‘s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.
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