Where the hot wind blows: Hot, windy days more common recently

A strong breeze can be lovely in the city on a hot day, but on the beach blowing sand can be an unwelcome addition to your watermelon or an unpleasant exfoliation experience if the wind is blowing hard enough.

Strong winds can also whip up the surf, leading to rip current warnings.

It's not your imagination — you have been experiencing this more often.

These kinds of days have been more common on P.E.I. in recent years. If we look back over the last two decades — defining a hot day as above 25 C, and a windy day as gusts of 50 km/h — this is what we find.

7 hot windy days this year, so far

From 1997 to 2013 there was not a single year in which there were more than five hot and windy days. Then in 2014 it jumped to eight. It fell back to six in 2015, and leapt to 12 last year. In 2017 there have already been seven, not counting Friday, which is also forecast to be hot and windy.

But Environment Canada meteorologist Linda Libby said it is too early to blame climate change.

"It cannot be determined if this uptick could return to the number of hot, windy days of the 1990s or the 2000-2010s or if it is truly part of longer trend that will continue for decades," said Libby.

Three, or even four, years is not long enough to determine the difference between a long-term trend and general weather variability, said Libby.

This can be seen even in the last 20 years. There was a similar, though smaller, change around the turn of the century.

From 1998 to 2001 the number of hot, windy days bounced between four and five, while it was only zero to two from 2002 to 2011.

So yes, 2017 is already a particularly hot and windy year, but those conditions could end at any time.

Or not.

On the plus side, these have been some great years for sailing.

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