8 temperature records broken across B.C. on May 2: Environment Canada

A file photo shows sunny skies in B.C. Temperature records were broken in eight different areas across the province on May 2, 2023.

Temperature records were broken in eight areas across British Columbia this May 2, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

“A ridge of high pressure brought warm spring weather on Tuesday,” the organization posted online the following day, along with a list of areas that set daily maximum temperatures.

The Nelson area is where the mercury climbed the most this May 2, where the new record of 30.2 degrees Celsius surpassed the high set in 1937 by a whole 4.1 C.

That’s also the oldest record that was broken Tuesday.

At 30.4 C, Squamish set the highest record temperature in the province that day, up by 0.6 C from the one set in 2016.

Two other areas, Comox and Yoho National Park, also broke May 2 records that were set in 2016. In the former, the new record of 25.4 C is 1.9 C higher, while temperatures in the park area hit 25 C—an increase of 2.7 C.

Meanwhile, Golden and Creston both surpassed records set in 1998. In Golden, the new record of 28.3 C on Tuesday beat the former one by 1.5 C, while Creston’s recent 29.8 C is 1.9 C warmer than its last record.

Cranbrook also made the list of record breakers, with the high of 27.6 surpassing the city’s 1939 record of 27.2.

Finally, the least significant increase happened in Bella Bella, where the new record of 23.1 C is only marginally higher than the 23 C experienced in 2009.

ECCC designates this data as preliminary because it has yet to go through the organization's quality assurance process, however, it’s previously told CTV News that these records are rarely overturned.