Century-old heat records smashed by strikingly warm October

Temperature records appear to be falling faster than leaves this autumn, as BC marks yet another record-setting day for temperatures.

October 5 was the warmest in recorded history in many communities in southwestern BC and on Vancouver Island, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada. Two towns broke weather records that have stood for more than 100 years.

Cache Creek set a record with 27.9°C, breaking the old record from 1980
Lytton reached 27.2°C, breaking its 1966 record
Pemberton got to 26.9°C, breaking its 2003 record
Clearwater hit 25.8°C, breaking its 103-year-old record
Trail tied its record with 25.7°C
Port Alberni marked 25°C, breaking its 115-year-old record
Vernon saw 25.3°C, smashing the record from 1980
Nakusp made it to 19.7°C, breaking a record from 2003
Clinton set a record with 22.4°C, breaking its record from 2003
Bella Bella broke its record from 1980 with 19.5°C
The Malahat area also edged out its record from 1987 with 19.8°C

Part of the reason for the sunny and warm weather is a high-pressure ridge and a lack of fall rainstorms, Environment Canada meteorologist Derek Lee told Daily Hive.

“As we get into the end of September we usually get the storms coming back to BC bringing precipitation,” Lee said. “However, we haven’t really seen any significant storm in… quite a long time now.”

BC is currently in drought level four on a five-point scale, according to Lee. This fall, the province has been drier than the Mojave Desert.

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Temperatures are uniformly five to seven degrees above average across BC, Lee said. The trend is predicted to persist through Thanksgiving weekend, with warm weather and sunny skies in the forecast until Monday.

A brief rainstorm is expected on the statutory holiday, but the weather is expected to clear up for the rest of the week.

Environment Canada

Long-term modelling suggests warmer-than-seasonal temperatures could continue into November. Precipitation is harder to predict long-term.