Extended summer temperatures break heat records across the Maritimes

Record-breaking heat has kicked off the start of fall across the Maritimes and East Coasters have the jet stream to thank, says CBC meteorologist Brennan Allen.

Parts of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I. smashed previous records — some of which have stood for decades.

Temperatures at Shearwater Airport in the Halifax area on Tuesday hit 27.7 C, beating the previous record of 26.7 degrees set on Sept. 26, 1958.

Kejimkujik National Park reached 28.3 C, beating the old record of 25.5 set in 2007.

In many parts of Prince Edward Island, Tuesday was the hottest day of the year, with temperatures reaching 28.6 C in Charlottetown and 29.4 C in Summerside. The previous records for Sept. 26 for Charlottetown and Summerside were 26.5 C (set in 2007) and 25.7 C (set in 1961) respectively.

The heat trend extended into New Brunswick. People in St. Stephen had to cope with a sweltering 32.9 degrees, nudging out the 2007 record set on that day by 0.1 C.

Sept. 26, 2007 was a also a record-setting day for Fredericton and Woodstock, which recorded temperatures of 32 degrees and 29 degrees respectively. But those records were broken Tuesday with temperatures of 33.6 C for Fredericton and 32.3 C in Woodstock.

Snow in Alberta, heat on East Coast?

According to Allen, the jet stream is behind the extended summer-like temperatures.

Jet streams are like rivers of wind that stretch across North America, primarily in a west to east direction.

At the moment, Allen said the jet stream is in a high amplitude pattern in western North America, producing troughs and low pressure that has led to snow and cold temperatures in Alberta, for example.

"The opposite happened in eastern North America," said Allen. "A ridge promotes high pressure and sunshine, allowing warm tropical air to flood all of Eastern Canada over the last several days." 

Don't put away those summer clothes quite yet

Temperatures are expected to come down over the next few days, though temperatures will remain in the high teens and into the 20s across the Maritimes.

But Allen said he expects this same extreme weather pattern to return, to a lesser extent, and give unseasonably warm temperatures over the Thanksgiving weekend.

"So don't put away those T-shirts and shorts just yet."