Heat wave shatters temperature records across B.C.
British Columbia didn't quite live up to pre-Canada Day predictions of all-time record shattering heat, but while the mark for the highest-ever Canadian temperature was not reached over the long weekend, the sizzling weather fried many local records.
15 new heat records set across the province on Canada Day
The Canadian Press · Posted: Jul 02, 2013 6:11 AM PT | Last Updated: July 3, 2013
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In all, Environment Canada lists 15 new heat records set on Canada Day in communities from the South Coast to the north and southeastern corners of B.C.
At 36.7 C, Merritt broke the oldest record of 35 C, set in 1924, but other long-standing records fell in Quesnel and Prince George, where the cities reached respective highs of 36.1 and 33.5 C, breaking records that have stood since 1942.
The 29.5 C temperature posted at the Abbotsford Airport on Canada broke the 1967 record by one-tenth of a degree, but Abbotsford was the only city on the record-breaking list that didn't reach at least 31 C.
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Creston, Sparwood, Blue River, Clinton, Chetwynd, Dawson Creek, Pitt Meadows, Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton and Powell River all ranged between 31.1 C, while Pemberton hit 36.5 C.
Forecasters had predicted the sub-tropical heat wave would smash B.C.'s all-time high temperature of 44.4 C set in Lytton and Lillooet in 1941, but while Lytton reached a steamy 40.3 C on Canada Day, making it a hot spot for the country, the Fraser Canyon village didn't break its all-time high, or even its daily record.
Wagstaffe's Weather
The record-breaking heat has shifted eastward bringing in an onshore ocean flow that will continue to keep temperatures in the mid 20s with much less humidity, says CBC News Meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe.
The onshore flow will also bring more evening and morning cloud over the next few days but afternoons are still warm and sunshine prevails right through to next weekend! And right now the long range models indicate most systems that come in from the Pacific will be directed north, keeping the South Coast dry for quite some time.
The air mass across the B.C. southern Interior will become increasingly unstable through Tuesday evening allowing a disturbance to trigger thunderstorm development. Thunderstorm watches are already in place.
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