Mother Nature is turning up the heat on the region as Renfrew County heads into the Civic holiday long weekend.
Environment Canada has issued a heat warning for Renfrew County, advising that daytime temperatures will reach between 30 and 32 C Friday, with humidex values reaching 40 degrees.
Night time lows are only expected to fall to between 19 and 21 degrees.
This is the third heat warning issued for Renfrew County already this summer.
“So certainly we expect that this is a hot year,” said Dr. Jason Morgenstern, the region’s Medical Officer of Health.
“We’re going to continue to see extreme heat events and we need to be more wary than ever about the potential health effects.”
The Renfrew County and District Health Unit advises that people outdoors spend as much time in the shade as possible, drink fluids before feeling thirsty, and engage in outdoor activity in moderation.
“If you’re doing outdoor activities, try to do those in the cooler parts of the day, later in the evening or earlier in the morning,” says Dr. Morgenstern.
“It’s just important to enjoy those outdoor activities as safely as possible. So using sunscreen, wearing a wide brimmed hat, spending as much time in the shade and out of the sun as possible.”
One way people in the Pembroke region are beating the heat is by hitting the water with O’Kenny River Tubing.
“When it’s really hot like this, we just have people just stampeding in here,” says Andrew Kenny, owner of O’Kenny Craft Spirits and River Tubing.
On Thursday, Kenny says they already sent 60 people floating down the Muskrat River through Pembroke before the long weekend has even began.
“On days that are hot, people are looking for ways to cool off,” Kenny says. “If you gently get into the tube and you float down for the first hour, you’ll be sweaty. So we suggest hopping in (the river) and getting wet. Then hopping in the tube.”
The river float beginning at O’Kenny Craft Spirits, located at the intersection of International Drive and Paul Martin Drive, takes anywhere from two to five hours.
Kenny says Pembroke is blessed with the Muskrat River being one of the warmest in the region.
“On a day like today, it’s actually about 84 to 86 degrees (Fahrenheit). But that is what you want in a pool, right?”