“The heat is unbearable! », says Bertrand Tchouateu. An employee of the City of Montreal, the man spent the day outside on Tuesday, in temperatures close to 32℃, installing around ten misters near the Quartier des spectacles. The goal: to allow Montrealers to cool off a little during the heat wave that leaves no one indifferent.
Tuesday marked the first day of the heat wave that will hit Quebec in the coming days. Several cities in Quebec have crossed the 30℃ mark with a humidity that can exceed the 40 mark.
Never mind the heat, Bertrand Tchouateu knows that. “When it’s hot like this, people need to cool down. It’s because of the humidity. Where I come from, it’s hot, but it’s dry. It’s really humid here,” says the man from Cameroon.
On Tuesday, the peak was felt in the west of the province, notably in Gatineau, where the mercury rose to 33.4℃, the highest temperature recorded in the province.
The metropolis and Gatineau were not the only cities to be hit by this heat wave. In Trois-Rivières, the mercury rose to 32℃ during the day, and the temperature felt approached 40 by mid-evening.
In Saguenay, the day ended with thunder after also reaching 32℃ during the day.
In Abitibi-Témiscamingue, the thermometer remained high even after sunset, with a felt temperature of 38 in Val-d’Or.
In short, Quebec is recording temperatures above seasonal norms these days. But we may have to get used to it: the phenomenon could become more and more frequent, warns meteorologist Simon Legault. “In the coming decades, we should expect higher temperatures, earlier in the season, and longer periods of heat. »
High humidity levels contribute to the body not being able to cool down properly, he says. “When it’s very humid outside, sweat has a harder time evaporating. So the system that cools the human body is no longer effective.”
“In 2020 we experienced a heat wave at the same time of year, but we did not have high humidity or humidity above 40. Whereas here, we should reach 44 or 45 », adds the meteorologist. “To have this so early in the season is still abnormal. »
Tuesday morning, at La Fontaine Park, in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, the heat was more and more palpable. Salma Ghaoui, owner of a family daycare, brought all nine children from her daycare to the water games, an effective solution to cool off her children, although she is not satisfied with the current facilities at the park.
“My kids last year fell quite a bit and sometimes the water doesn’t work. It’s complicated, children with the heat, they are tired, especially at the end of the day. The work is harder,” says the Montrealer.
Ms. Ghaoui is not at the end of her troubles. “If we exceed 35 degrees, it would be the record for any day in June since forever,” says Simon Legault. “It would be more Wednesday than we could reach it, it is not guaranteed, but it shows that what we are experiencing is really extreme,” explains the meteorologist.
“We really need to take care of vulnerable people like the elderly, pregnant women, children,” he adds, reiterating the benefits of staying hydrated and taking advantage of accessible water points in parks, in particular.
Still at La Fontaine Park, Fanny Esteves and her dog were lying under a tree to avoid the sun. It faced the La Fontaine park pond, almost completely emptied of water, giving it the appearance of a dried-up swamp.
“Visually, it’s nicer to have water and I even think it would bring more freshness. I admit that I don’t tolerate heat very well and my dog is really very hot,” the young woman stressed.
Tuesday noon, nearly 16 hours of work on rue Saint-Urbain awaited Samuel Gélinas, scaffolding foreman, during this period of extreme heat. “It’s heavy, it’s heavy, we drink water,” the construction worker said.
Wooden planks under his arm, he was preparing to set up the scaffold to join his colleagues who found a shady corner.
He considers himself lucky compared to some of his colleagues in construction: “It happens, problems, heat stroke, lack of water, lack of shade… Roofers never have shade on the roofs . »
He is not the only one to worry about his colleagues who face the heat in their workplaces. Gabriel Lalande, a bicycle deliveryman for a pharmacy in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, believes that his “colleagues in cars complain about the heat. Traffic is very difficult on the Plateau, in several neighborhoods of Montreal. Even if you have air conditioning, it’s heavy.”
Gilles Dion, a road signaller, also highlights the difficulties with the stifling heat. “There are construction sites where there is bitumen and asphalt and that’s hot! Their days are often shortened because of the heat. There are people who just can’t do it,” explained Mr. Dion.
