Daily, maybe even monthly heat records in play

A pre-Thanksgiving heat wave is forecast to peak early this week around Ottawa and could bring the capital's hottest recorded October temperature.

Environment Canada forecasts highs of 28 C Tuesday and 30 C Wednesday. Both are around the daily heat records for the city using records going back to the 1870s.

The hottest October temperature on record for Ottawa was 29.4 C, reached twice in the 1890s. Its hottest autumn temperature on record was 30.7 C in late September 2017.

The average high temperature in Ottawa on Oct. 2 is 16 C and the average low is about 6 C, according to Environment Canada.

Monday peaked at a non-record 25 C. No records were set in the wider region that day.

Daily heat records are alsoin play Tuesday for many communities around Ottawa such as Belleville, Gatineau, Kingston, Napanee and Trenton, according to data compiled by CBC's climate dashboard.

Human activity is causing climate change that makes extreme heat more likely,placing vulnerable people, businesses, infrastructure and agriculture at further risk.

The unseasonable heat shouldn't trigger a proper heat warning from Environment Canada, which issues them when at least two days in a row above 30 C and nights above 20 C are forecast, or when humidity is expected to make an area feel like 40 two days in a row.

The forecast calls for Ottawa to fall back to moreseasonal temperatures by Thanksgiving weekend.

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