For the fourth day in a row, several BC communities set high temperature records on Friday.
Preliminary data from Environment and Climate Change Canada shows that the following eight areas recorded new record highs on July 29:
- Cache Creek Area: New record 41.2, old record 39.2 set in 2018
- Clinton area: new record 34.7, old record 33.3 set in 2018
- Kamloops area: new record 37.9, old record 37.6 set in 1998
- Lillooet Area: New record of 40.1, old record of 39.8 set in 2018
- Lytton Area: New record 42.2, old record 41.4 set in 2018
- Merritt Area: New record of 37.2, old record of 37 set in 2003
- Nelson area: new record 38.6, old record 38.5 set in 2003
- Trail Area: New record of 40, old record of 39.3 set in 2014
For Lytton and Clinton, the latest highs represent the third consecutive days in which a record was set. For Cache Creek, Friday was the third record day in the last four.
Armel Castellan, ECCC meteorologist and emergency planner, told CTV News that more record temperatures are possible Sunday and Monday as the heat wave drags on.
Temperatures are expected to start to cool on Monday, but many inland areas won’t see daily highs drop below 30 degrees until Wednesday, or even Thursday in the southeastern part of the province, he said castellan
The daily temperature records are considered preliminary because they haven’t gone through Environment Canada’s quality assurance and quality control process, which typically takes several weeks, according to Castellan. He said there is “always some chance” of weather sensors malfunctioning, but it is very rare for preliminary records to be overturned.
Castellan emphasized that when temperatures begin to drop, the effects of heat-related illnesses can continue. He encouraged BC residents to continue checking on the vulnerable people in their lives over the next week.
Most of the province has been under a heat advisory since Monday, July 25, and Castellan said he expects the advisories to remain in place through the long weekend, with temperatures dropping from north to south. and from west to east across the province. Monday night or Tuesday.
As temperatures drop, unstable air has the potential to spark thunderstorms, increasing the likelihood of new wildfires in the wake of the heat wave, Castellan said.