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When temperatures in Saskatchewan climb to the mid-30s, it takes some creative thinking to stay cool.
At Pike Lake Provincial Park near Saskatoon on Sunday, the common denominator for crowds seeking to beat the heat was water.
Crowds gathered on the beach to take a dip in the cold lake, while families with young children packed the supervised pool, and others armed themselves for a water gun fight.
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Most campers agreed that water was the key to having a good time in the heat wave.
“Have drinks, stay hydrated,” advised one camper who talked to 650 CKOM.
“The weather is very harsh this weekend, but here we are, enjoying the lake. We try to refresh in the lake,” said Andrea, also a camper at the park.
When asked what they considered essentials to weather the hot weekend, campers shared a few tips — all involving liquid.
“Water, ice, ice pops, drinks, shower, a dip in the lake… that’s it!” said one visitor by the beach.
The Huddle concession saw a huge influx in guests trying to keep cool this weekend. (Payton Zillich/650CKOM)
Dallas, a worker at The Huddle at Pike Lake, said the concession had been super busy on Sunday, with visitors seeking out ice cream, frozen treats, cold drinks and bottled water.
“We pretty much had a rush all day, and inside it was boiling hot, so we had to drink lots of water to not pass out.”
Huddle workers also had a creative solution to keep cool.
“Sometimes we use the freezer as a break room, … that’s probably our best option.”
Many families cooled down with their young children at the supervised pool at Pike Lake on Sunday. (Payton Zillich/650CKOM)
Campers not worried by smoke
Dallas also said that campers had not been complaining about wildfire smoke in the area.
The smoke is from wildfires in B.C. and Alberta, and affected air quality in many parts of the province on Sunday.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) says that air quality and reduced visibility due to wildfire smoke can fluctuate over short distances and can vary considerably from hour to hour, which may be why Pike Lake campers escaped the bad air.
On Sunday there was an air quality value of 10-plus in Buffalo Narrows, Prince Albert and Saskatoon, with variable values in many other places. The smoke was forecast to clear by Monday, ECCC said.
Thick smoke can make temperatures feel a few degrees cooler than forecast. However, the combination of heat and very poor air quality can increase the risk to your health, ECCC says.
The heat warning for most the province remains for the next few days, forecasting daytime highs between 28 and 36 degrees Celsius, and overnight lows ranging from 14 to 22 degrees Celsius.
More information on air quality alerts for specific areas of the province is available at weather.gc.ca.
Information is also available on the Saskatchewan Public Service Agency website at saskpublicsafety.ca and the SaskAlert app. The provincial air quality summary for Saskatchewan can be found here.
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