Smashing temperature record something to smile about

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This article was published 19/10/2017 (2380 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It hasn’t been this hot here on an Oct. 20 since 1958, when John Diefenbaker was Canada’s prime minister, Nikita Khrushchev became premier of the Soviet Union and the United States launched its first satellite a year after the Soviets launched Sputnik.

Winnipeg set a temperature record on Friday, when the mercury hit 24.3 C at 3 p.m. and smashed the 59-year-old mark of 23.9 C.

Environment Canada meteorologist Shannon Moodie said it got even hotter, topping out at 24.9 C at the airport about an hour later.

“We are really lucky,” Moodie said.

“I went outside to verify it myself.”

The normal high temperature at this time of year is 9.7 C.

But it is much higher than the alternative record. Winnipeg’s low temperature record for Oct. 20 is -12.8 C, set in 2002.

This weekend’s temperatures are predicted to be above seasonal averages for Winnipeg, with a high of 19 C today and 13 C Sunday.

“We’ll hit our high early (today) and then it will go down through the day, “Moodie said.