Tuesday was the hottest day of 2013 thus far in Waterloo Region – and relief isn’t in sight quite yet.
Temperatures topped 30 C and humidex meant it felt more like 40 C at the hottest part of the day Tuesday.
Environment Canada’s humidex advisory for all of southern Ontario is still in effect, with the agency predicting high temperatures in the low 30s and overnight lows around 20 C for the next few days.
The weather is expected to start cooling down later this week, with cool, dry air coming in from the north and hitting southern Ontario by Friday.
The hot, humid weather has many scampering inside for air conditioning – something a Kitchener neighbourhood was unable to do for a few hours Tuesday.
“All the lights went out. It was ominous,” said Chris Jin, who was working at a convenience store in Forest Glen Plaza when the power went out around 10 a.m.
More than 2,000 homes were hit by the power outage, mostly in the area of Strasburg and Bleams roads.
Most had power restored within 45 minutes, but electricity wasn’t running to all affected homes until early afternoon.
“We had an insulator fail on the pole line on Strasburg Road,” said Wilf Meston, vice-president of operations for Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro.
Local hydro companies say overconsumption doesn’t appear to be a problem this summer, making the likelihood of brownouts lower than in past years.
Meston points to conservation efforts, fewer manufacturing companies taxing the grid and an increase in electricity generation in Ontario as causes of the reduced demand, but notes that Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro pumped out 360 megawatts of electricity on Monday – the most in a single day in 2013.
With the hot weather, residents are also being reminded not to leave animals in cars.
“Dogs in cars are the highest priority call that we have,” said Gary Boes of the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society.
“We know how dangerous it is for that animal, even for a short, short period of time.”
The Humane Society has received 59 calls about animals in cars this month.
