22 temperature records broken amid B.C. heat wave

A person cools off at a spray park in Vancouver, B.C., Sunday, July 7, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns)

Sunday was the hottest July 7 on record in 22 communities across B.C. amid a heat wave that prompted weather warnings in much of the province, according to preliminary data from Environment and Climate Change Canada.

The warmest record-breaking temperature for that day was recorded in Lytton, where it hit 39.9 C. Before Sunday, Lytton’s hottest July 7 was more than 70 years ago, when the mercury rose to 38.9 C in 1953.

A daily maximum temperature record that had stood in Kamloops for well over a century also fell. It got to 37.6 C in that city, surpassing its 1906 high of 35.6 C.

The federal weather agency issued heat warnings for more than 40 B.C. regions over the weekend, including the Lower Mainland, central and southern Interior, inland sections of the central and north coasts, northeastern B.C., and eastern and inland sections of Vancouver Island.

It says the current “very high” temperatures pose a “moderate risk to public health.” Cooling centres have opened in several B.C. cities as a result.

ECCC says the heat wave is forecast to abate starting Tuesday night, but warm weather will continue.

The full list of maximum temperature records broken Sunday follows below:

• Cache Creek: New record of 39.5 C; old record of 36.9 C set in 2015
• Clinton: New record of 32.6 C; old record of 32.0 C set in 2017
• Fort Nelson: New record of 31.4 C; old record of 30.6 C set in 1953
• Gibsons: New record of 30.1 C; old record of 30.0 C set in 2010
• Kamloops: New record of 37.6 C; old record of 35.6 C set in 1906
• Kelowna: New record of 36.2 C; old record of 35.6 C set in 1970
• Lytton: New record of 39.9 C; old record of 38.9 C set in 1953
• Malahat: New record of 30.7 C; old record of 29.1 C set in 2010
• Merritt: New record of 35.7 C; old record of 35.6 C set in 2015
• Pemberton: New record of 38.0 C; old record of 35.6 C set in 1953
• Penticton: New record of 36.4 C; old record of 36.1 C set in 1960
• Puntzi Mountain: New record of 32.9 C; old record of 32.1 C set in 2015
• Sechelt: New record of 30.1 C; old record of 30.0 C set in 2010
• Smithers: New record of 31.8 C; old record of 30.1 C set in 2021
• Tatlayoko Lake: New record of 32.4 C; old record of 31.1 C set in 1931
• Vernon: New record of 36.1 C; old record of 34.5 C set in 2015
• Whistler: New record of 33.2 C; old record of 32.3 C set in 2023 

ECCC notes that temperature records are “derived from a selection of historical stations in each geographic area that were active during the period of record” and its summary may contain preliminary or unofficial information.