Nearly two dozen communities BC saw new record low temperatures in the early hours of Saturday morning, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.
For some areas, this was the third day of record cold.
Bella Bella, Clinton, Nakusp and Punzi Mountain recorded their lowest minimum temperatures for Saturday, April 16, and each also set or equaled its record low temperatures on April 14 and 15, according to Environment Canada.
The Punzi Mountains, about 180 kilometers west of Lake Williams, have held temperature records since 1959. The lowest Saturday level of -13.3 C surpassed the previous record of -11.1 set in 1970.
Nakusp, where records from 1966 are kept, also broke a 1970 record with a temperature of -4.4 on Saturday. The previous record low for April 16 was -2.8.
Clinton’s low of -9.5 surpassed the record of -7.2 set in 1976, while Bella’s previous record of -1.2 was set recently in 2013. In the village, temperatures reached -4.6 on Saturday.
Some of the other records that fell on Saturday were more than 100 years old.
The previous record low level of the White Tower for April 16 was -3.9, set in 1901. Temperatures dropped to -4.4 on Saturday. Records have been kept in the area since 1895.
Similarly, Quesnell, Nelson, and Prince George broke records that stood for 1909, 1918, and 1927, respectively.
However, the oldest records, which fell on Saturday, are in Vancouver and Princeton, and in both cases low temperatures, unseen on April 16 in the 19th century.
The temperature in Vancouver of -1.2 broke the previous record of -0.6, set in 1896, and the lowest values of Princeton reached -8.4, exceeding -6.7 observed in 1895.
The full list of 23 temperature records set on Saturday, according to preliminary data from Environment Canada, is as follows:
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Bella Bella Area: New record of -4.6, old record of -1.2, set in 2013
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Bella Coola Area: New record of -4.4, old record of -3.9, set in 1901.
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Blue River Zone: New record of -9, old record of -8.9, set in 1971
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Lake Burns area: New record -11.5, previous record -11.4 set in 2000
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Cache Creek area: New record of -4.1, previous record of -4, set in 1995
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Clinton District: New -9.5 record, previous -7.2 record set in 1976
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Kamloops Zone: New -5.5 record, previous -5 record set in 1971
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Lillooet District: New record of -3.4, previous record of -1.7, set in 1973
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Lytton District: New record of -3.6, previous record of -2.2, set in 1971.
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Zone Merritt: A new record of -8.3, a previous record of -6.7, set in 1971.
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Nakusp area: New record of -4.4, previous record of -2.8, set in 1970
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Nelson area: New record of -3.4, previous record of -2.8, set in 1918
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Port Hardy area: New record of -2.9, previous record of -1.1, set in 2013
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Prince George’s Region: New -9.5 record, previous -9.4 record set in 1927
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Princeton County: New record of -8.4, previous record of -6.7, set in 1895
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Punzi Mountain Zone: New record of -13.3, previous record of -11.1, set in 1970.
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Quesnel Zone: New record of -9.1, previous record of -8.9, set in 1909.
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Sechelt Zone: New -0.6 record, previous -0.5 record set in 1995
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Sparwood Zone: New record of -10.8, previous record of -6.8, set in 1995.
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Squash Zone: New record of -2.7, previous record of -1.7, set in 1964.
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Lake Tatlayoko area: New record of -12.9, previous record of -12.2, set in 1968
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Trail area: New record of -3.9, previous record of -2.6, set in 2013
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Vancouver Region: A new record of -1.2, a previous record of -0.6, set in 1896.
Environment Canada says these temperature records were obtained from “a selection of historical stations in each geographic area that were active during the recording period.”
Although the data is considered preliminary, Environment Canada meteorologist Greg Walters told CTV News on Saturday that this was because additional data could still be collected, not because of concerns about the accuracy of the data already collected.
Walters attributes the recent cooling of the riverbed combination over central and southern BC. and clear skies at night. He said the current weather pattern is expected to change gradually over the next week, with low night temperatures gradually becoming more seasonal.
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