Eastern Newfoundland, parts of Labrador still under heat warning as 'sticky' weather pushes on
Heat warnings lifted for central and western Newfoundland as rain moves in
Eastern Newfoundland and part of Labrador are still under heat warnings as the hot and humid weather continues to beat down on the province.
"It's going to be pretty similar to what it has been the last few days for the eastern area," Brendan Sawchuk, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, told CBC News on Thursday.
The St. John's area, along with the Clarenville, Bonavista and Terra Nova areas, will see a high of 28 C with humidex values near 36.
Sawchuk said that makes for another "sticky" day, and a pattern of 26 C to 28 C is expected through the weekend.
Things are cooling off in central and western Newfoundland — Gander to Deer Lake — which are no longer under heat warnings.
"We're seeing some showers move through Deer Lake and the kind of Badger areas right now. Those will persist throughout the day," Sawchuk said.
"We actually could see some thundershowers later this afternoon through Deer Lake all the way through the Gander area."
In Labrador — Norman Bay to Lodge Bay — temperatures are expected to reach 29 C.
Paul Westcott, an instructor and trainer with St. John Ambulance, says the severe dangers of the latest stretch of hot weather are heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
"We need to make sure that we're cool, lots of fluids, hydrate. The best substance for hydration is water or electrolytes or carbohydrates," Westcott said Thursday.
"We need to get out of the heat as much as we can. Wear light clothes. Not the day to be wearing a black T-shirt and black pants."
Memorial University climatologist Joel Finnis says Newfoundland and Labrador has grown noticeably warmer in the past couple of years, seen in melting sea ice and longer stretches of hotter weather.
"We have noticed, over the last couple of years, it's much more common to get extended periods of high temperature like we're seeing now," Finnis said Thursday.
"You take a look at stretches of very warm conditions like that, you recognize it happened the year before as well, you start to realize that things are shifting toward much warmer summers. That has a lot of consequences."
With files from CBC Newfoundland Morning and The St. John's Morning Show