5.8°C Sunny 
TORONTO - Enjoy the hot summer weather while you can Central and Eastern Canada.
The heat wave gripping the eastern half of the country could be 2010's last blast of extreme heat as cooler temperatures — think high teens and low 20s — arrive for the Labour Day weekend.
Dozens of temperature records have been smashed in Central Canada and the Maritimes over the past few days as the region swelters under a warm and humid air mass.
"A large area of high pressure entrenched south of the Great Lakes is acting as a big heat pump, bringing up this air mass from the American deep south and spreading it across Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces," said Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson.
At least 13 temperature records were broken, and one matched, in the Maritimes by mid-afternoon Wednesday. Eleven were set Tuesday, seven on Monday and one on Sunday.
The hotspot in the Maritimes on Wednesday was Miramichi at 35 degrees, passing the old mark of 33.9 C in 1942.
Fredericton, Halifax and Summerside, P.E.I., have also smashed records.
In Charlottetown, meteorologist Linda Libby noted Hurricane Earl is approaching and that's a factor in the hot weather.
Earl is expected to be either a strong tropical storm or a Category 1 hurricane when it makes landfall either in Maine or Cape Breton, N.S., overnight Friday or Saturday morning.
In Ontario, so many records were broken that it's "almost too numerous to mention," said Coulson.
Barrie, the Muskoka region, North Bay, Timmins, Sudbury, Kapuskasing and Sault Ste. Marie all had records fall over the past few days, he said.
Toronto hit its expected high of 32 degrees on Wednesday. But Coulson said it won't break the old mark of 35.6 degrees set back in 1953.
However, Toronto did set a record high on Tuesday when the mercury reached 33.7 degrees at Pearson airport. That smashed the old mark of 33.3 degrees set back in 1973.
Overnight the temperature is cooling down to only 20 or 21 degrees in some places. When the humidity is factored in, it still feels like it's 30.
"For folks without air conditioning, they're not getting a lot of relief in the overnight hours with this particular heat wave," said Coulson.
In Montreal, meteorologist Rene Heroux said more than 10 records had been broken in Quebec since Sunday.
"This type of intense heat wave rare for this time of year, so it's unlikely we're going to see something of this through the month of September," said Coulson.
Chicoutimi broke records Sunday through Wednesday. It was 32.2 degrees at 2 p.m. Wednesday, higher than the record of 31.7 set in 1953 and 1972.
The heat may be on but it won't last much longer. A new air mass will arrive, bringing cooler temperatures as we head into the Labour Day weekend from Ontario through the Maritimes, said Coulson.
It felt like the low 40s with the humidity in Toronto on Wednesday but the temperature will plunge. The forecast high for Saturday is only 20. The norm is 23 for this time of year.
Even so, Environment Canada's models indicate on average that conditions will be warmer than normal through September in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes.
