High school football team tackling first opponent of the season — the heat
Coach says team has been practicing at 8:30 a.m. to beat the humid conditions
A heat warning for southwestern Ontario is expected to last midway through the week, just as many local sports teams are beginning to practice outdoors.
The alert warns of hot and humid temperatures from Windsor all the way through the greater Toronto area, with humidex values reaching 40 until late Wednesday.
Harry Lumley has been coaching the W.F. Herman high school football team for about five decades, and said he's noticed the summers getting progressively hotter and humid.
"We take equipment off when it starts to get too hot — take the helmets and shoulder pads off so they don't retain the heat," Lumley said, adding they sometimes start practices at 8:30 a.m. before the heat kicks in.
He said he's noticed his players getting fatigued more quickly in the heat — using nearby water stations more frequently.
Threat of heat stroke has young athletes concerned
Heat stroke is a major concern for players on the Herman team. Some of the concern stems from an incident on June 13, after University of Maryland sophomore Jordan McNair died a couple weeks after struggling to recover from a team workout.
"Down south [in Maryland], there's extreme heat and humidity. But you've got to be careful with all the kids. When you see somebody overheating, don't push them," he said.
"We have a rule here. If you want to get a drink, go get a drink. You don't have to wait for us to approve it."
Another heatwave may be coming
In 2017, Windsor-Essex saw three consecutive days of heat at the end of September. In fact, on Sept. 23, a 58-year record was broken when temperatures hit 31 C. Back in 1945, temperatures on the same day reached 30.6 C.
Geoff Coulson, meteorologist with Environment Canada, said that stretch of September heat may return even sooner this year.
"We're likely going to start off September somewhat warmer than normal," Coulson said.
As for the current heat warning, Environment Canada says it will come to an end once a cold front moves through affected areas Wednesday afternoon.
with files from the CBC's Flora Pan and Jason Viau