National Post (National Edition)
Hotter than `the hottest city on Earth'
HOW WESTERN CANADA BECAME ONE OF THE STEAMIEST CORNERS OF THE GLOBE
If you're reading this in Western Canada, we don't need to tell you that the last few days have yielded temperatures that have melted asphalt, left highway shoulders scattered with overheated cars and allowed the citizenry to discover sweat glands they weren't aware they possessed.
For a couple of weeks, a corner of the globe that spends half the year dusted in snow became a contender for one of the hottest single regions on Earth. Below, a few statistics as to just how remarkable Western Canada's heat wave has been.
Canada has now officially posted a higher temperature than anywhere in Europe or South America
Take a moment to imagine all of the famously hot environments of either Europe or South America: The steaming jungles of the Amazon, the baking-hot beaches of Rio de Janeiro, the sun-blasted hills of Sicily.
With a temperature of 49.6 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, Lytton, B.C., not only broke the record for the alltime highest temperature in Canada, but it became hotter than the historical high temperature of any single country in South America or Europe.
Europe's hottest-ever temperature belongs to Athens, Greece, which hit 48C in 1977. While in South America, their highest-ever was a 48.9 C posted in the semi-arid town of Rivadavia in 1905.
A corner of the Northwest Territories got as hot as Delhi, India
Canada's Northern Territories were not spared from the heat wave. Mere weeks after many North of 60 communities saw the breakup of river ice, they were assaulted with temperature in the 30s. The record went to Nahanni Butte, which hit 38.1 C on Monday.
The Dene community spends much of the year accessible only by ice road, but briefly shared the same high temperatures as one of the most notoriously hot cities on Earth. One of the most Googled questions for Delhi, India is “why is it so hot in summer?” Over the weekend, Delhi hovered around 39 C.
Vancouver Island got hot enough to break the temperature records for six provinces and nine U.S. states
Vancouver Island is Canada's New Zealand: A temperate land of minimal snow and minimal heat waves whose pleasantly moderate weather is entirely out of step with the extreme temperatures of the country at large.
And yet, even there, the Pacific Coast community of Port Alberni hit 42.7 C on Monday. That's a temperature higher than anything in the recorded history of Ontario, Quebec or the Atlantic Provinces. It's also hotter than the historical highs for nine U.S. states, including Hawaii (37 C), Vermont (41 C) and Massachusetts (41 C).
Meanwhile, there is a whole subset of music, film and literature devoted to the oppressive heat that can strike New York City in summer. Even then, New York State has never gotten hotter than 42 C.
Kamloops got hotter than the “hottest city on Earth”
If Muslims in Kamloops prayed toward Mecca on Sunday evening, they were briefly in the position of praying toward a city that was the same temperature as their own. Islam's holiest city is unbelievably hot, even by Saudi standards, and has often been called the “hottest city on Earth.” Even in winter, the desert city maintains temperatures of 30 C.
On Sunday, Kamloops hit 44 degrees — a civic record. That was exactly the same as Sunday's daily high for Mecca.
Lytton, B.C., was only seven degrees cooler than the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth
One more statistic about the mind-numbingly high temperatures that struck Lytton: They came surprisingly close to matching the highest air temperature ever recorded anywhere on the planet in history.
While there has been some controversy over the precise holder of the “hottest ever” record, Guinness World Records has given the nod to a day in 1913 when a ranch in Death Valley, Calif., hit 56.7 C. That's only seven degrees hotter than the record-breaking highs that hit Lytton.