These 4 B.C. communities set new high-temperature records Thursday

The Vancouver skyline is pictured from the air at sunset. (Pete Cline / CTV News Vancouver)

Thursday was the warmest Jan. 5 on record in four B.C. communities, including the City of Vancouver and the District of West Vancouver, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

The other areas that saw record highs Thursday were the Sunshine Coast District of Sechelt and Estevan Point on Vancouver Island's west coast.

In Vancouver, the mercury reached 12.2 C, breaking the previous record of 11.7, which was set in 2001. Records have been kept in the area since 1896.

In West Van, Thursday's high was 13.5, nearly two degrees hotter than the old record of 11.6, which was set in 2006.

Sechelt's high of 13.7 beat the community's 2006 record of 11 by an even greater amount, while Estevan Point just barely exceeded its 1981 record of 11.5, recording a new high of 11.9.

Temperature records are "derived from a selection of historical stations in each geographic area that were active during the period of record," according to Environment Canada, which added that the data is preliminary.

The warm start to the new year is a notable change from the frigid temperatures and snow that marked the month of December.

Earlier this week, Environment Canada meteorologist Alyssa Charbonneau told CTV News that Vancouver and Abbotsford had received more than 200 per cent of their normal December snowfall totals last month, but January was shaping up to be less extreme. 

"Looking into the beginning of January we are seeing warmer than normal conditions setting up for the month," she said. "We don't see a return to those bitterly cold arctic outflow conditions or any very cool conditions setting up in the near-term."