Turner Avenue in Peachland is really rebelling from the heat.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Michelle Fulton
June 29, 2021 - 1:00 PM
If increasingly smoky skies, skyrocketing hydro bills and general discomfort aren't enough to signal that this heat is a problem, then here's one last thing to tip the scales.
Residents of Peachland have reported seeing bulging concrete along sidewalks as mercury rises to dangerous new heights.
Shawn Grundy, Peachland's Director of Operations, said he came across the strange sight on Turner Avenue on Monday while headed out to a different area for work.
"They can definitely buckle when it's hot like this," Grundy said.
"Concrete expands, and when there are expansion joints — the little lines in between each slab of sidewalk — if they aren't able to quite take up that expansion then what happens is what you've seen there, so they'll just kind of pop up."
He said he's never seen that problem arise in relation to heat before and doesn't know if there's a specific temperature during which it's likely to happen, though yesterday's 40 C heat may mean that was the sweet spot.
In other moments of shifting, however, staff have had to pop those pieces out and pour new concrete in there.
Image Credit: Jay Heidelbach
"It'll be a little while before we can get out of the way so if we're lucky, it'll drop back down," he said. "We'll have to wait and see."
He also said that it could be a byproduct of the way that sidewalk was made, but it's still a heat issue.
They've noticed the same problem in Vernon. The City of Vernon said today several sidewalks have 'heaved' due to extreme hot weather. Crews will mark the locations as they are discovered but won't be fixing them until the heat wave is over.
If you see one of these sidewalks in Vernon, call 250-550-6757 to report it.
Environment Canada hasn't said if Peachland hit any records but Kamloops was the hot spot amongst the larger cities in the Thompson-Okanagan, hitting 45.8C, breaking Sunday’s record by 1.8C.
Kelowna hit 42.9C, up from 41.5 on Sunday. Penticton, which narrowly missed setting an all-time high record on Sunday, reached 42.5 C on Monday, breaking its old all-time high record of 40.6 C set on July 17, 1941.
Osoyoos set a new record of 42.7 C, beating an old record of 37.7 C set in 2000. Records in this area have been kept since 1954.
Salmon Arm hit a record of 38.8 C beating an old record of 37.3 set in 2015. Records in this area have been kept since 1893.
Also Summerland has a new heat record of 40.3 C. The old record of 36.1 was set in 2015.
Each community has set up cooling stations for those who are unable to escape the heat in their homes.
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