Tag: Extreme Temperatures

The other day I did a post point out that it did get hot in Fort McMurray in April and May.

That post (and this) is using data from Environment Canada for 1908 to 1944.

Remember what Jeff Masters said:

“Fort McMurray saw record daily highs of 91°F on Tuesday and 89°F on Wednesday. The city gets this warm on only about five days in a typical year, and those days are usually in July or August (even then, the average daily high is between 70°F and 75°F)”

I’ve done two sets of histograms using the 75F (24C) boundary suggested by Jeff Masters. One for April/May and One for July/Aug.

In April/May 1944 there were 14 days 24C  and above.

In July/Aug 1944 there were 40 days 24C  and above.

The other day I did a post pointing out that most of the really hot temperature records in Canada occurred 1936 to 1941.

Then I did a post about  Jeff Masters at Wunderground  claiming it never got this hot in Fort McMurray before in May.

I had only found monthly data before 1944. Reader Fred found pre-1944 daily data under the name “Ft McMurray”.

Jeff Masters said:

“Fort McMurray saw record daily highs of 91°F on Tuesday and 89°F on Wednesday. The city gets this warm on only about five days in a typical year, and those days are usually in July or August (even then, the average daily high is between 70°F and 75°F)”

Lets look at the data! Wow!!!!! And this was before 80,000 people and all the UHI moved in.

10 Warmest April Days Before 1944

Date	Max Temp C	Max Temp F
1939-04-29	35	95
1939-04-28	28.3	82.9
1941-04-30	27.8	82
1941-04-26	27.2	81
1941-04-29	27.2	81
1924-04-26	26.7	80.1
1915-04-29	26.1	79
1931-04-29	26.1	79
1915-04-24	25.6	78.1
1943-04-14	25.6	78.1

10 Warmest May Days Before 1944

Date	Max Temp C	Max Temp F
1936-05-29	36.7	98.1
1916-05-21	33.9	93
1936-05-28	33.3	91.9
1944-05-04	33.3	91.9
1934-05-25	32.8	91
1944-05-28	32.8	91
1919-05-19	32.2	90
1936-05-26	32.2	90
1940-05-23	32.2	90
1924-05-14	31.7	89.1

For fun, lets look at the whole year.

Date	Max Temp C	Max Temp F
1941-07-18	38.9	102
1916-07-02	37.8	100
1916-07-31	36.7	98.1
1924-07-02	36.7	98.1
1936-05-29	36.7	98.1
1937-06-29	36.7	98.1
1944-06-29	36.7	98.1
1941-07-15	35.6	96.1
1941-07-16	35.6	96.1
1918-07-10	35	95
1924-07-01	35	95
1939-04-29	35	95
1939-08-04	35	95
1916-06-30	34.4	93.9
1917-07-16	34.4	93.9
1919-06-20	34.4	93.9
1927-07-24	34.4	93.9
1930-07-14	34.4	93.9
1910-06-11	33.9	93
1916-05-21	33.9	93
1916-08-26	33.9	93
1925-06-28	33.9	93
1925-08-02	33.9	93
1926-07-05	33.9	93
1936-06-23	33.9	93

Yesterday I did a post pointing out that most of the really hot temperature records in Canada occurred 1936 to 1941.

Today I noticed that Jeff Masters at Wunderground  was claiming it never got this hot in Fort McMurray before in May.

I’ll just post a few quick facts.

1. The monthly data for Fort McMurray only goes back to 1944. I doubt daily goes further back.
2. The really hot years were the 1936 – 1941 years. So temperature records missed the 1936-1941 period.

Here are the ten warmest May’s (in terms of TX = Tmax) in For McMurray from 1944 on.

Year	Month	Tx	Tn	Tm
1986	5	34.8	-3	11.6
1944	5	32.8	-7.8	12
1961	5	32.8	-5.6	10
1971	5	32.8	-5.6	12.3
1995	5	32.8	-6.7	10.5
2003	5	31.3	-5.4	9.3
1972	5	31.1	-6.7	12
1987	5	30.8	-6.9	11.1
1948	5	30.6	-4.4	11.1
1980	5	30.6	-3.8	11.2

Fort McMurray Alberta, Canada is burning. 1,600 homes so far.

Some people have already started blaming “Climate Change”.

Here is wikipedia’s list of hottest temperatures ever recorded in Canada. 1937, 1936, 1941 …. You have to go to the bottom of the list to find one from 1960 and one from 1961. Look up dustbowl (but be careful … wikepedia and others blame the following temperatures on bad plowing techniques)

Date Recorded	Location	Temperature
July 5, 1937	Midale, Saskatchewan	45.0 °C
July 5, 1937	Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan	45.0 °C
July 11, 1936	St. Albans, Manitoba	44.4 °C
July 11, 1936	Emerson, Manitoba	44.4 °C
July 5, 1937	Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan	44.4 °C
July 16, 1941	Lillooet, British Columbia	44.4 °C
July 16, 1941	Lytton, British Columbia	44.4 °C
July 17, 1941	Lillooet, British Columbia	44.4 °C
July 17, 1941	Lytton, British Columbia	44.4 °C
July 17, 1941	Chinook Cove, British Columbia	44.4 °C
July 29, 1934	Rock Creek, British Columbia	43.9 °C
July 5, 1936	Midale, Saskatchewan	43.9 °C
July 11, 1936	Emerson, Manitoba	43.9 °C
July 11, 1936	Morden, Manitoba	43.9 °C
July 4, 1937	Rosetown, Saskatchewan	43.9 °C
July 5, 1937	Regina, Saskatchewan	43.9 °C
July 16, 1941	Oliver, British Columbia	43.9 °C
June 23, 1900	Cannington, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C
June 25, 1919	Dauphin, Manitoba	43.3 °C
July 31, 1926	Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C
July 24, 1927	Greenwood, British Columbia	43.3 °C
July 25, 1931	Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C
July 5, 1936	Estevan, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C
July 7, 1936	Emerson, Manitoba	43.3 °C
July 11, 1936	Waskada, Manitoba	43.3 °C
July 11, 1936	Virden, Manitoba	43.3 °C
July 11, 1936	Brandon, Manitoba	43.3 °C
July 11, 1936	Greenfell, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C
July 5, 1937	Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C
July 5, 1937	Grenfell, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C
July 5, 1937	Francis, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C
July 5, 1937	Regina, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C
July 5, 1937	Estevan, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C
July 5, 1937	Carlyle, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C
July 12, 1937	Regina, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C
July 27, 1939	Oliver, British Columbia	43.3 °C
July 17, 1941	Oliver, British Columbia	43.3 °C
July 17, 1941	Skagit River, British Columbia	43.3 °C
July 19, 1941	Elbow, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C
July 19, 1941	Lumsden, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C
August 6, 1949	Rosetown, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C
July 19, 1960	Newgate, British Columbia	43.3 °C
August 5, 1961	Maple Creek, Saskatchewan	43.3 °C