Tourists, workers deal with unseasonably warm October weather in Maritimes

It was unusually warm in the Maritimes on Monday.

Tourists visiting the Maritimes say the summer-like temperatures caught them off guard on Monday.

Across the Maritimes, the temperature ranged from the low-to-mid 20s, but it did hit the low 30s as a high in some areas.

Tom Brassco, visiting from outside Canada, says he and his travel partner didn’t expect to find such warmth this far north in October.

“We were trying to get away from the warm weather, and here we are father north than we’ve been in a while, and it’s beautiful,” Brassco said. “It’s 80 degrees, but it’s not what we were expecting.”

Many others thought fall would bring cooler air by now. Greg Columbo, another tourist, says they packed for crisp weather but were met with sunshine instead.

“We brought a bunch of warm clothes. We’re heading to Quebec City,” Columbo said. “We didn’t expect a beautiful day like today, but we’ll take it.”

For those working outdoors, the high temperatures make an already demanding job even tougher. Construction worker Gregg Anderson says the constant movement under the sun is taking its toll.

“It’s pretty intense all the time because you’re steady moving, picking objects up and putting them down,” Anderson said.

Brittany Smith, senior communications advisor with Halifax Water, says their reservoirs are still feeling the impact.

“With all the dry weather, we still are experiencing really dry conditions at Lake Major and all our water supplies across the municipality,” Smith said.

Halifax Water is now working on solutions to prepare for similar conditions in the future.

“The issue at Lake Major is that the pump is really susceptible to these low conditions,” Smith explained. “We’re working on an alternate solution to get that pump even further into the water so we wouldn’t have to deal with this current situation.”

While Nova Scotia continues to cope with drought, neighbouring New Brunswick is making the most of the unseasonable warmth. Families have been flocking to beaches, where children are still swimming well into October.