Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, is in for a noticeable weather shift this week, with temperatures forecast to tumble more than a dozen degrees in just two days. According to Environment Canada, Tuesday, August 25, is expected to reach a high of 18 C, but by Thursday the daytime high will be only 5 C.
The forecast calls for mainly cloudy skies on Tuesday with southwest winds of 20 km/h gusting to 40 km/h. Rain is expected to move in Tuesday night, with a low of 7 C. Showers continue into Wednesday, when the high drops sharply to 7 C. Wednesday night will be cloudy with a low of 2 C. Thursday brings more cloud and a high of just 5 C, with an overnight low of 2 C.
That 13-degree swing from Tuesday to Thursday is a clear signal of the late-summer cool-down familiar to residents of this Arctic Ocean hamlet of about 937 people. August is the last month of summer in Tuktoyaktuk, and average temperatures typically range from a high of 12.3 C to a low of 5.4 C. The community sits north of the Arctic Circle and has a subarctic climate, so such temperature drops are not unusual as the season transitions toward fall.
Residents hoping to get outdoor work or recreation in before the chill settles may want to make the most of Tuesday, when conditions are relatively mild despite the clouds. By mid-week, cool, damp weather will have taken hold, and overnight lows will be close to freezing.
The forecast is based on information issued by Environment Canada on Monday morning. Conditions at Tuktoyaktuk Airport on Monday afternoon were mostly cloudy and 7.9 C, with south-southeast winds of 27 km/h.
