There could be record-high heat for May 31st set in Niagara Region

Niagara Region could break a 34-year record high today for May 31st high temperature.

The record was 30.4C (87F) set on May 31, 1988. The projected high today, according to Environment Canada, is 30C. By 10 am, it was already 28C in St. Catharines.

On top of that, Environment Canada is calling for a hotter than normal summer in Niagara, certainly a boon to local wineries, breweries and Niagara Falls in general.

That said, expect some stormy days, too.

Meteorologist Doug Gillham told local radio station, CKTB, that those storms will come and go on their own.

“I can’t promise you that a given farm or even the Niagara Region will keep getting hit (with rainfall),” said Gillham.

“It’s an active pattern for southern Ontario but as residents of Niagara well know you can often watch the storms out over the lake or passing to your south or the north and you get missed, sometimes they just keep tracking right across Niagara so it’s an active pattern but only time will tell how often your backyard will get hit.”

The problem with predicting weather in Niagara Region is that it is situated between two Great Lakes – Lake Ontario to the north, Lake Erie to the south.

The lakes hold great sway over local weather patterns.

With regards to the heat, Gillham told the station, “It’s not relentless heat where it seems to go on and on,” adding pop-up storms have a way of dropping temperatures.