Unexpected parts of Canada just saw their hottest summer on record

Parts of Canada not necessarily known for their heat just notched their hottest summer on record.

Canada is certainly no stranger to high heat during the heart of summer, but a few surprising parts of the country just notched their hottest summer ever recorded.

Meteorological summer, which runs from June 1st through August 31st, saw above-seasonal temperatures across almost all of the country save for parts of northern Ontario.

Summer 2022 Temp Anomalies

Temperatures generally ran 0.5°C to 1.5°C above seasonal this summer in many areas—a deviation that doesn’t seem like much, but adds up quickly with long periods of hot days and warm nights.

The widespread warmth across the country fell in line with The Weather Network’s official summer forecast released back in June. “We expect the upcoming summer to feature widespread warm weather as most of Canada will see near-normal or above-normal temperatures,” Dr. Doug Gillham wrote in the outlook.


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While just about everyone from coast to coast did indeed experience a toastier summer than they’re used to, a handful of typically temperate communities just lived through their hottest summer on record.

Newfoundland Summer 2022 Stats

The ‘winner’ of this uncomfortable contest is St. John’s, Newfoundland, where the average summertime temperature came in 2.3°C warmer than normal. Nearby, folks in Gander also shattered the record for their warmest summer.

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All of the Atlantic provinces ran particularly hot compared to the rest of the country. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, also experienced its hottest summer on record with an average temperature anomaly of 1.2°C above seasonal.

Persistent ridging and southerly winds allowed the heat and humidity to repeatedly push into Atlantic Canada throughout the summer, setting parts of the region up to experience this unprecedented warmth.

We also saw unusually hot conditions in Northern Canada this summer.

Temperatures in June, July, and August ran quite a bit above seasonal across both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The small community of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, just finished out its warmest summer ever recorded, with average temperatures coming in just shy of 2°C above seasonal.

The warmth isn’t over even though we’ve flipped the calendar to September. Our official outlook calls for above-seasonal temperatures for much of Canada this month.

Check out our September outlook for an inside look at what you can expect across the country in the weeks to come.

Thumbnail courtesy of Getty.