104-year-old low temperature record broken in B.C.

A highway sign for Merritt, B.C., is seen in an undated file image.

Weather stations have been operational in Merritt, B.C., for 105 years, and for nearly all of that time, the record low temperature for Oct. 26 was the one set in the second year of record-keeping: -8.3 C in 1919.

That changed Thursday.

Just a week after unseasonably warm weather set high temperature records in eight B.C. Interior communities, a dramatic shift led to record lows in six places across the province Thursday, including Merritt, where the mercury dropped to -8.6 C, according to preliminary data from Environment and Climate Change Canada. 

The coldest record set Thursday was in Burns Lake, where temperatures dropped to -15.4 C, beating the old record of -10.6 C set in 1971.

Smithers was the only other community to set a new record more than 10 degrees below zero, seeing a low of -10.7 C. The previous record for Oct. 26 was -8.9 C, set in 1969.

Records also fell on the coast Thursday, with Bella Bella reaching a low of -4.2 C, well below the old record of -0.6 C set in 2008.

Port Hardy saw a low of -4 C, beating the previous record of -2.2 C set in 1970, and Squamish set a new record of -2.5 C, slightly lower than the previous record of -1.9 C, which had only stood since 2020.

The daily temperature records Environment Canada reports are "derived from a selection of historical stations in each geographic area that were active during the period of record," according to the weather agency.