August 1, 1975 - The warmest day in Montreal

Montreal, looking downtown, during the hot summer of 1975.

Montreal has never officially hit 100F. We however came very close to it on this day in 1975 when the mercury hit 37.6C or 99.7F. This is the warmest day on record in Montreal. On many occasions we have flirted with the century mark and this record over the years, most recently back on July 21, 2011 when the airport reached 35.6C. Now remember Trudeau Airport located in the Montreal suburb of Dorval, sits just inland from the chilly waters of Lac St. Louis. It is notorious for having temperatures cooler than surrounding regions, as we have seen many time just this year. Just yesterday the Airport was stuck at 29C for 5 hours while surrounding regions gained 30C easily and even above. Trudeau finally nudged up to 30.4C for a daytime high, while I recorded 32C here on L'Ile Perrot, Ottawa reached 35C and St Anicet 33C.

So one can easily argue on that hot day back in 1975 that many parts of the inner city were well above 100F, but the final word goes to Environment Canada, and the official high is 37.6C. Incidentally I was 9 years old in 1975 and we had just purchased our first pool for the backyard during that heatwave. Summer 1975 was not unusually warm but that late July early August heatwave established records that have yet to fall with a 5 day stretch of temperatures from 32 to 37.6C. If we are lucky today, and the wind is not blowing off the lake, we may make 27C (81F). It will be muggy and cloudy with more showers and perhaps a rumble of thunder.