A sweltering heat wave is affecting much of central and eastern Canada. At least 15 people have died in Quebec over the past few days, with 11 in the city of Montreal, prompting city officials to unveil their emergency response plan to avoid a spike in the number of deaths. The heat wave started on Friday, June 29 with temperatures reaching more than 45 °C (113 °F) this past weekend along with high humidity. The warm and humid airmass over Southern Quebec will persist through Thursday, July 3.

Today, humidex values will reach near 40 °C (104 °F). However, conditions will grow even more uncomfortable on Thursday with humidex values reaching 43 °C (109.4 °F). Montreal residents made hundreds of calls to 811 and ambulances on Monday and Tuesday, July 2 and 3, 2018, forcing officials to raise the city response level from ‘alert’ to an ‘intervention.’ The city’s public health director, Dr. Mylène Drouin, said officials want to avoid repeating what happened in 2010 when extreme heat caused 106 deaths in the Montreal area. READ MORE