The Heatwave of Early-September 2022

Things are cooling off again, so let's take a look back at the heatwave that we had to start of September, and which carried over from our historically warm August.

 

We set 3 new records in-a-row for daily Highs on September 2, 3 & 4, which were all above 31°C. And just before that August 30th & 31st were also both above 31°C, and were the 2nd warmest Highs for those days.

 

This is how September 3rd temperatures have gone over the years. With the dropdown at the bottom you can also switch to the 2nd or 4th.

 

For 2022 so far we have set 5 new records for daily Highs: September 4th, September 3rd, September 2nd, August 20th & July 28th. Recently 2021 also had 5, while 2016 had 7.

 

30°C Highs in September are rare, but they're not impossible. 

Prior to 2022 Edmonton had recorded a total of 25 of them since 1880, and 2022 brings that number to 28.

 

33.8°C on September 3rd was Edmonton's 2 hottest September day on record, behind 33.9°C on September 1st, 1967. 32.1°C on September 4th was our 8th warmest September day, and 31.6°C tied for 10th warmest. 

So 2022 has 3 spots in the September top-10.

 

33.8°C on September 3 was the warmest day of 2022.

How often does the warmest day of the year fall in September? It seems unusual, but it's actually happened 11 times: 2022, 2017, 2011, 2009, 1981, 1967, 1952, 1944, 1943, 1938 & 1887.

There is some doublecounting there, because in some years multiple days have the same warmest temperature.

 

The September heatwave brings 2022 to 11 days with Highs of 30°C or more. That is tied for the 5th most on record with 1981, 1939, 1936 & 1922. 2021 has the record with 17.

 

The September heatwave also brought 2022's count of 28°C days to 23. That is the 4th most on record, behind 25 in 1981, 28 in 1961, and 32 in 2021.

 

One unusual thing about 2022 is that we had no hot days before July. 

So just since July 1st the 23 days at 28°C is the 2nd most, behind 25 in 1981. And the 11 days at 30°C is tied for #1 with 2021, 1981 & 1933.

 

Edmonton doesn't get 3 days in-a-row above 30°C all that often: it's happened around 35 times since 1880. 

2022 is the first 30°C 3-day streak that we've had in September (1981, 1950 & 1938 all had 2 in-a-row).

 

 

Calgary

Calgary was also hot from August 30-September 4th. 5 of the 6 days were over 30°C, and they set 2 new records on September 3rd & 4th.

 

32.7°C on September 3rd was Calgary's 4th warmest September day on record, and September 4th's 31.8°C ranked as #11.

 

The September heatwave brought Calgary's count of 30°C days for 2022 to 17, which is their 8th most on record. 2021 had 21, and 1936 has the record with 23.

September 3rd was also Calgary's hottest day of 2022. And they've also had 11 years where the hottest day fell in September.

That's where we sit after the hot start to September, but who knows what the rest of the month will bring?