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