With summer just around the corner, Environment and Climate Change Canada has rolled out a new way of notifying the general public about a significant heat event by introducing their new Heat Warning and Information System for the province of Ontario.
The new system will include a standard set of terminology to be used (by all, including local health units) as well as a standard set of criteria used to decide when a heat warning is necessary.
The new system was put together following input from Health Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and local public health units to try and get everyone on the same page.
"In the past, there could be different messaging coming out from local public health units who may not be using exactly the same criteria, they may use different names for these things; they could have called them heat alerts or heat warnings and so there was a bit of a mixed message or series of messages going out," says Geoff Coulson, senior weather preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada.
Under the new heat warning and information system, the province has been divided into three key areas or regions:
- Northern Ontario
- Southern Ontario
- Extreme Southwestern Ontario (From Chatham-Kent to Windsor)
"This will allow them to gear up staff and perhaps being ready to open up things like cooling centres and things of that nature," adds Coulson.