This week we had record high temperatures across most of Ontario.
The daily temperatures above probably seem unbelievable so I should explain my methodology.
I get these daily from a site called “weather underground” for consistency. The URL is here. These are temperatures without Humidex or Wind-chill factors. The closest reporting station is Collingwood (a 20 minutes drive west up the bay) so the temperatures are not exact. I contend that if you are walking across a few kilometers of beach in the sun, and the temperature is 36C, it is at least 36! LOL.
I cut my walk short a few days because it was too just hot and one day because I forgot to bring water along. These are the dog days of summer we wait for all winter.
Monday July 2nd, 2018 – folks enjoying the water. A Seadoo towing passengers on a tube. Looks like Lake Manitou but with a bigger beach.Monday July 2nd, 2018 – Looking east toward Beach One. Quite a difference from last Saturday (June 30th). I love seeing the tourists come for the long weekends, but it’s nice when things are quieter too. 🙂Tuesday, July 4th, 2018 – looking west toward Collingwood and Blue Mountain from Wasaga Beach on another hot day with record temperatures.Wednesday, July 4th, 2018 – I snapped a picture of this canoe offshore near beach 3. Looking north.Wednesday, July 4th, 2018 – taken from one of my favorite spots near 13th street looking west on another spectacular July day.Wednesday, July 4th, 2018 – Looking north from near 13th street to one of several footpaths connecting a small park to the beach.Thursday, July 5th, 2018 – I’m pretty sure this is my friend Mr. White again. Back in May of this year, friends will recall that I chronicled meeting Mr. White and Mr. Black on the beach.
The weather turned dramatically between Thursday and Friday as the heat wave finally “cracked”. I hesitate to say it “broke” because next week looks like it will be hot again. On the evening of Thursday July 5th we had torrential rains. Driving down old Mosely road there was three inches of water on the road as the storm sewers couldn’t keep up. Parts of the beach were washed out because of run-off. Instead of being 34C at noon, it was 18C on Friday morning with a strong north wind. Quite a dramatic change!
Friday, July 6th, 2018 – This is the exact spot where we spent the Canada Day weekend with out of town guests last week. Today there was not a person in sight.Friday, July 6th, 2018 – Looking towards Collingwood. You can tell the air is clear when you see the grain terminals this clearly.
It’s not intuitive, but when I was taking the picture of the siloes in Collingwood from the west boardwalk at Beach One I thought I was looking northwest, but it is actually slightly southwest. (see map below) According to Google Maps the distance above is to the grain terminals is approximately ten kilometers. Shows how clear the day is. Blue Mountain is several kilometers further west of the grain silo.
You can learn more about the Collingwood Grain Terminals here.
Friday, July 6th, 2018 – This boat has been anchored off shore all week. I feel bad for these folks because I think they got trapped by the change in weather. I hope it is OK. It is anchored bow out and is still riding the waves OK but it is moving closer to shore by the hour. They are too far from the river to get to shelter safely. When the whitecaps are like this you need a much deeper boat to travel parallel to the beach safely. I think the best bet is to try and drag it up on the beach before it swamps and fills with water.Friday, July 6th, 2018 – Looking down the boardwalk from Beach 2 on a windy but very pleasant Friday morning.
