{"id":777078,"date":"2026-07-03T06:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T06:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/777078\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T06:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T06:22:09","slug":"extreme-weather-causes-widespread-disruptions-from-the-prairies-to-eastern-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/777078\/","title":{"rendered":"Extreme weather causes widespread disruptions from the Prairies to eastern Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Ontario and Quebec have had extreme heat warnings in place since Tuesday, with Atlantic Canada the latest to see hot and humid weather.Andrej Ivanov\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Torrential rain, strong winds and high heat have hit parts of the Prairies and Eastern Canada, a series of extreme weather events that led to the flooding of Manitoba towns, the cancellation of Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa and Toronto pulling the plug on a FIFA World Cup watch party.<\/p>\n

In western Manitoba<\/a>, more than 200 millimetres of rain were dumped in some areas of the region, swelling rivers and damaging at least 50 roads, triggering states of emergency in 30 communities, according to a Wednesday Manitoba government news release.<\/p>\n

In the town of Swan River \u2013 located on the waterway from which it gets its name and roughly 380 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg \u2013 flooding prompted officials to issue an evacuation order for roughly 200 residents, said Mayor Lance Jacobson. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s water in places that we\u2019ve never seen in my lifetime. Several older people that I know have never seen water like this ever,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Heavy rains caused the Swan River, which flows through the community\u2019s western area, to overflow its banks, Mr. Jacobson said. <\/p>\n

The community flooded already in early June after heavy rains, and the oversaturated ground caused any water to flow straight into the watershed, he said, adding that residents have been sandbagging for a month and are \u201cexhausted and burnt out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manitoba has asked the federal government to step in, Soraya Lemur, press secretary for Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski, said in an e-mail statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working with the province to assess evolving local needs so together we can determine the best ways to support the flood response on the ground to ensure Manitobans get the help they need,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Premier Wab Kinew said in a Wednesday news conference that the province will spend $5-million on flood relief, noting that many roads have been damaged. <\/p>\n

Peter Kimbell, a warning preparedness meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada, said that while western Manitoba has had the wettest June on record, and Eastern Canada\u2019s heat wave is extreme, the weather systems aren\u2019t connected. <\/p>\n

The heat wave stems from a hot air mass that typically moves from the United States during the summer, he said, noting the humidity creates the \u201cperfect\u201d chance for thunderstorms and high winds. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The heat wave is moving east, Environment Canada says, starting Thursday and continuing into Friday in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.Dax Melmer\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Ontario and Quebec have had extreme heat warnings in place since Tuesday, with Atlantic Canada the latest to see hot and humid weather. Temperatures in Toronto reached highs of 35 C, with the humidex at 43 C on Thursday. The high heat is expected to continue through the weekend, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada. <\/p>\n

Heat wave gives way to storms, cancelling Ottawa Canada Day celebrations<\/a><\/p>\n

Toronto cancelled its free FIFA World Cup watch party at Nathan Phillips Square because of the extreme heat and the extra people needed to manage crowds at Toronto Stadium ahead of the match between Portugal and Croatia, according to a city news release. FIFA did not respond to questions over any measures it might take to keep fans at the stadium cool during the match.<\/p>\n

The city also bolstered misting stations and free drinking water trailers at the FIFA Fan Festival nearby the stadium.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Toronto dispatched four mobile water trailers to supplement the city\u2019s more than 700 water fountains and has also boosted homeless outreach efforts, including adding cooling spaces, the city said. <\/p>\n

Robin Griller, executive director of St. Michael\u2019s Homes, a Toronto-based mental-health and substance-abuse service, said people who struggle with these issues might not be aware when they\u2019re overheating. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is people are stuck outside. They can\u2019t cool off. If they don\u2019t stay hydrated, they can very quickly end up with sickness and get quite ill,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

On Wednesday, hot, humid weather gave way to high winds and downpours throughout Southern Ontario. By evening, Heritage Canada cancelled its Canada Day musical performances and fireworks in Ottawa. <\/p>\n

Heavy rains and thunderstorms led to the cancellation of more than a dozen flights from the Ottawa airport, including Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s flight to Edmonton for him to deliver a speech. <\/p>\n

The thunderstorms and winds, reaching speeds of nearly 100 kilometres an hour, downed power lines and trees in Southern Ontario, including near Barrie and London, Wednesday night. <\/p>\n

Montreal also saw high temperatures on Wednesday, reaching a high of 32 C and a humidex rating of 44 C. On Thursday, temperatures hit 31 C, with a 41-humidex figure. <\/p>\n

The heat wave is moving east, Environment Canada says, starting Thursday and continuing into Friday in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.<\/p>\n

Temperatures are expected to rise above 28 C in all three provinces with humidex values making it feel between 36 C and 42 C.<\/p>\n

With reports from Sophia Bertuzzi, Bill Curry in Ottawa and The Canadian Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Ontario and Quebec have had extreme heat warnings in place since Tuesday, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":777079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,66,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-777078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-science","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}