99-year-old temperature record broken in B.C. Saturday as warm fall continues

From Vancouver Island to the Interior, several high temperature records were broken across B.C. on the first day of October.

Nine communities saw their hottest Oct. 1 on record Saturday, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada. That includes the Clearwater area, where the previous record was set 99 years ago in 1923.

Clearwater got up to 24.8 C Saturday. The previous record was 23.9.

Environment Canada said "a ridge of high pressure" brought the latest record-breaking heat, and a spokesperson told CTV News more records are likely to fall Sunday.

The full list of high temperature records set in B.C. Saturday is as follows.

• Cache Creek area – New record of 26.6, old record of 26.3 set in 2012
• Clearwater area – New record of 24.8, old record of 23.9 set in 1923
• Comox area – New record of 23, old record of 22.9 set in 1992
• Courtenay area – New record of 23, old record of 22.9 set in 1992
• Hope area – New record of 28.8, old record of 27.7 set in 1987
• Lytton area – New record of 27.3, old record of 26.9 set in 2003
• Merritt area – New record of 27.9, old record of 27.8 set in 1975
• Port Alberni area – New record of 28, old record of 26.5 set in 1987
• Revelstoke area – New record of 23.1, old record of 22.8 set in 2003

Environment Canada says its temperature records are "derived from a selection of historical stations in each geographic area that were active during the period of record."

The reported records are considered preliminary, because the data hasn't gone through the agency's quality assurance process, but it's rare for records to change from the preliminary report.

The first few weeks of fall have been unseasonably warm this year, leading to record high temperatures being set in communities across the province on several days last week. 

The warm temperatures have been coupled with little to no rain, exacerbating drought conditions in some parts of the province.

Last week, the provincial Forests Ministry said Vancouver Island, the inner south coast and the northeast corner of the province had reached the second-most-severe level of drought on a five-point rating scale. 

The BC Wildfire Service warned Saturday that the continued hot and dry conditions meant the 2022 wildfire season is "by no means over yet." 

With files from The Canadian Press