A heat wave blanketing most of the province broke daily heat records for several communities in central and northern Alberta on Tuesday.

Figures from Environment Canada show daily maximum temperature records were set in Edmonton, Stony Plain, Grande Prairie, Cold Lake, Lac La Biche and Beaverlodge.

The Edmonton area saw the highest single-day temperature record in the province on Tuesday, with statistics showing the city hit a high of more than 32 C. 

The record made Tuesday the hottest Aug. 26 in Edmonton in 145 years, which is how far back Environment Canada says temperature records go for the city.

Christy Climenhaga, a scientist with Environment Canada, said the prolonged heat wave that Edmonton is experiencing is historically rare for the city.

She said Environment Canada has forecast six straight days with above 30 C temperature highs for the city this week.

Climenhaga said that Edmonton has never before had so many consecutive days of hot weather above 30 C this late in the month of August.

“So we can get a couple of days above 30 C, which does happen, but having six days above 30 C in a row taking us into the end of August is more unusual,” Climenhaga said.

Climenhaga said Edmonton usually only averages about one day of weather above 30 C for the month of August.

This hot weather across Alberta has prompted Environment Canada to issue a heat warning for most of the province. It says all of central and northern Alberta can expect daytime high temperatures between 29 and 33 C.

Heat warnings are issued when very high temperature conditions are expected to pose an elevated risk of heat illnesses, such as heat stroke or heat exhaustion.

Environment Canada is cautioning that daytime high temperatures between 29 and 33 C are expected this week for the majority of the province.

The agency is advising the public to take breaks from the heat, stay hydrated and ensure no children or pets are left inside a closed vehicle for any length of time.

The late summer heat wave is bringing back serious wildfire risk to parts of the province.

According to data from Natural Resources Canada, a large swath of eastern and northern Alberta is now classified as extreme or high risk for fire danger.

In a statement Wednesday, Alberta Wildfire reported that the hot weather and lack of precipitation has increased the wildfire danger to very high levels in the Lac La Biche forest area, located about 300 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

Environment Canada said the current heat wave is expected to come to an end early next week.