Hot and dry; are the two words that Environment Canada described July in Moose Jaw, as the city saw little rain and numerous 30+-degree days.  

It didn’t take long for the hot weather to come to Moose Jaw, as on July 1 a high of 33.9 degrees was recorded. Following Canada Day, the weather cooled off but then the extreme heat returned later in the month.  

“Toward the third week of the month, we got back to temperatures that were quite warm in the mid-30s for a couple of days and then again on the 30th,” says Hasell. 

On July 25 Moose Jaw reached 34.6 C, and 30.4 C on July 23. In July, 16 out of the 31 days were over 25 C.  

Looking at the mean temperature for Moose Jaw in July, it came in below normal.  

“The mean temperature overall so that’s taking daytime highs and nighttime lows and averaging them and then taking that and averaging that over the month we get 17.6 degrees. The average is 19.3 degrees, so you folks were just below normal for the month of July,” adds Hasell. 

The hot temperatures played into the well-below-normal precipitation amounts in Moose Jaw for July. The average moisture seen for July is 63 millimetres. 

“Moose Jaw got 20.5 [millimetres] so you are at 33 per cent of what you would have normally received in July, making it the 17th driest July for Moose Jaw over 130 years of data.” 

Other communities came in much drier than Moose Jaw. Yorkton only saw 23 per cent of the usual precipitation in July. Over to Estevan, they only saw 11 per cent of their average rain amount, which made it the second-driest July on record.  

Hasell explains that throughout July, an upper ridge of pressure played into the hot and dry conditions seen in Moose Jaw and around the province.  

“Those days tend to be dry days, sometimes they are hot as well. A combination of hot and dry is not abnormal. We have had a few systems come through, but each didn’t give very much.” 

The most rain Moose Jaw saw in a single day was 13.8 mm back on July 11. The second most was 3.5 mm, seen on July 1.  

These hot and dry conditions, along with the emergence of grasshoppers, have led crops to mature quite rapidly, leading farmers to begin harvesting much earlier than usual. For others, the conditions have left them with extensive crop damage.  

Moving forward, the conditions aren’t expected to improve for Moose Jaw moving into the Saskatchewan Day long weekend.  

“This week Moose Jaw is looking at very hot conditions over the next several days but cool enough at night to keep you out of warning criteria. People should still be behaving like a warning is in effect.” 

A high of 33 C is expected on Thursday, and 30 C on Friday. It will cool down over the long weekend with daytime highs of 26 C, 27 C, and 28 C on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday respectively. 

The signs of heat stroke are a high body temperature, confusion and lack of coordination, dizziness, fainting, and no sweating, but very hot, red skin.   

To prevent you from getting heat stroke or heat exhaustion, Hasell touched on some key points to protect against the heat.   

“Stay hydrated, dress in loose-fitting, light-coloured clothing, a white brimmed hat, and breathable fabric. We are dealing with sunshine so sun protectant and sunglasses. If you have to work outdoors, make sure you schedule lots of breaks and drink lots of water.”