90-year-old temperature records broken in B.C. as province sees another unseasonably warm day

A ridge of high pressure in parts of B.C. brought more record-breaking heat to the province Monday.

Preliminary data from Environment Canada shows 16 more temperature records were broken for Oct. 3, marking the latest in a string of unseasonably warm days for the province.

Many of the records broken Monday were decades old, including two set 90 years ago. In 1932, it got as hot as 25 C on Oct. 3 in Kelowna. But this year, the mercury inched a little higher to 25.4 C in that city.

Agassiz also broke its record from 1932, recording 27.7 C on Monday. Ninety years prior to the day, it was 26.7 C.

Other records broken, according to Environment Canada, include:

• Abbotsford area – new record of 28 C, old record of 26.7 C set in 1980
• Cache Creek area – new record of 26.3 C, old record of 25.6 C set in 1947
• Clinton area – new record of 23.9 C, old record of 23.7 C set in 2003
• Hope area – new record of 27.5 C, old record of 27.2 C set in 1952
• Lytton area – new record of 27.3 C, old record of 26.5 C set in 2003
• Malahat area – new record of 24.5 C, old record of 19.9 C set in 2001
• Nakusp area – new record of 22 C, old record of 20.8 C set in 2021
• Pemberton area – new record of 27.5 C, old record of 27 C set in 1993
• Pitt Meadows area – new record of 27.6 C, old record of 26.9 C set in 1993
• Powell River area – new record of 22.6 C, old record of 22.2 C set in 1970
• Puntzi Mountain area – new record of 27.3 C, old record of 26.6 C set in 2003
• Sechelt area – new record of 24.6 C, old record of 21.5 C set in 1993
• Squamish area – new record of 27.2 C, old record of 23.7 C set in 2015
• Tatlayoko Lake area – new record of 26.8 C, old record of 26 C set in 2003

Environment Canada's Yimei Li told CTV News Vancouver the province would normally see more rain at this time.  

“Usually by mid- or the end of September we should switch to a rainy season, however we haven’t seen that so far this year,” Li said.  

Metro Vancouver's forecast for the rest of the week predicts more dry weather. Temperatures aren't expected to get higher than 21 C over the next several days, though with humidity it could feel as warm as 27 C inland. Lows are expected to hover between 10 C and 13 C.

The continued dry weather is impacting wildfire conditions at a Metro Vancouver park. Crews expect to be at Minnekhada Regional Park for several days, battling a 12-hectare blaze.

"With continued dry weather in the area and also in the forecast, the firefighting effort is expected to be a multi-day operation and we will be on site for a number of days to come," Brant Arnold-Smith, emergency operations centre director for Metro Vancouver Regional District, told CTV News Vancouver.

"We’re at a high to extreme fire rating point now, and it does not take a lot to ignite a small brush fire."