Another heat wave expected for Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley this week

Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley could face their third heat wave of the year later this week, with the potential to break records in several areas.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Bobby Sekhon told Daily Hive that a ridge of high pressure is building up for later this week.

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“We’ll start to see the heat on Wednesday and kind of ramp up, with the peak of heat being Thursday and Friday,” he explained in an interview. “We’re going to be near records for those days for many places like Abbotsford, Vancouver, and Squamish. It’ll just depend on the particular records of the day, but there’ll probably be some records broken.”

Sekhon noted that, most importantly, Environment Canada will be near its criteria for issuing heat warnings.

For western parts of Metro Vancouver, temperatures at the YVR Airport must surpass two consecutive daytime highs of 29°C or more, with overnight minimums of 16°C or more.

For Eastern Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford must forecast two days of 33°C or more, as well as an overnight minimum of 17°C or more.

Fortunately, the heat wave isn’t expected to be anywhere near the devastating temperatures seen in June.

“We’ll probably see temperatures come down a few degrees through the weekend and generally a cooling trend Saturday onwards,” Sekhon said. “It’s probably going to be similar to last time where we had marginal cases for heat warnings and temperatures were fairly close to heat warning criteria.”

Residents in the Lower Mainland are encouraged to plan in advance and prepare to beat the heat, whether that means visiting cooling stations or public areas with air conditioning, such as shopping malls. Additionally, people should ensure they have access to water and check in on vulnerable populations, such as young children, pregnant people, older adults, or people with chronic illnesses.

Symptoms of heat illness include swelling, rashes, cramps, fainting, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and the worsening of some health conditions.