Environment Canada says Kamloopsians should brace for temperatures into the 40s next week as part of an upcoming heat wave.

Meteorologist Chris Doyle says this spell of hot weather is due to a ridge of high pressure that will “stick” on to the western coast of Northern America, and gradually make its way across the province.

“By Friday its really starting to build in amplitude,” Doyle told Radio NL. “You’re starting to get a warmer, still northwesterly flow into the Southern Interior.”

“Though the weekend, the ridge amplifies further and then it kinds of flattens out but at a pretty high amplitude for most of the remainder of next week, so temperatures yeah sure in the upper 20s today, but they’re going into the 30s tomorrow.”

Doyle says the spike in temperatures – which would be enough to trigger a heat warning – comes after a rather average June, where temperatures in the Kamloops area were about 0.6 C cooler than normal.

Temperatures are expected to climb over the rest of this week, with Monday and Tuesday next week currently expected to be the hottest. Doyle says the increase in temperatures brings with it an increased risk of wildfires across the Southern Interior, including the Kamloops area.

“As the dry conditions go on a prevail and we are seeing a dry pattern set in for the first part of July for sure, concerns are warranted,” Doyle said.

Environment Canada’s Warning Preparedness Meteorologist Armel Castellan says the difference between the upcoming heat wave and the deadly heat dome that killed more than 600 people in summer 2021 is that temperatures next week aren’t expected to surpass heat-warning criteria by such large margins.

“It’s a long-duration event, there’s no doubt about that,” Castellan said of the forecast.

“But the impact on human health isn’t as extreme as when the temperatures get into this 45 (Celsius) and beyond degrees, particularly for the hottest places in the southwest Interior.”

Seventeen of the people who died as a result of the heat dome were in Kamloops.

The BC Coroners Service says 17 in Kamloops died during the 2021 heat-dome event, when temperatures soared above 40 C in many communities from June 25 to July 1.

A wildfire that killed two people on June 30, 2021, in Lytton occurred a day after the village of about 200 people experienced Canada’s hottest recorded temperature of 49.6 C.

– With files from The Canadian Press