105-year-old high temperature record broken in B.C. community

Downtown Prince George is seen from L.C. Gunn Park in this photo shared by the city on Dec. 1, 2023. (City of Prince George/Facebook)

Five communities in the B.C. Interior saw their hottest July 30 on record Wednesday, including Prince George, where the heat narrowly broke a record that had stood for 105 years.

Prince George’s high of 32.3 C reported by Environment and Climate Change Canada Wednesday is a 10th of a degree higher than the previous all-time record for July 30, which was 32.2 C, set in 1920.

Records have been kept in the area since 1912.

Penticton also broke a record by one 10th of a degree Wednesday. The mercury rose to 36.8 C in the Okanagan city, narrowly eclipsing the 36.7 C seen 95 years ago on July 30, 1930.

Dawson Creek, Mackenzie and Quesnel all saw new records on Wednesday as well.

In Dawson Creek, the new record for July 30 is 31.4 C, up from 30.6 C set in 1960.

Mackenzie reached 33.4 C on Wednesday, breaking the previous 1971 record of 32.2 C.

And Quesnel saw a high of 35.9 C, up from the previous record of 35.6, also set in 1971.

The temperature records reported by Environment and Climate Change Canada come from “a selection of historical stations in each geographic area that were active during the period of record.”

Much of the B.C. Interior has been under a heat warning this week, and severe thunderstorm watches have also been issued in some regions.

According to the B.C. Wildfire Service, approximately 13,167 lightning strikes were recorded across the province Wednesday, with more than 9,000 of those occurring in the Prince George Fire Centre.

The BCWS reported 76 active wildfires in the province as of early Thursday afternoon. More than a third of the total – some 27 fires – had sparked in the last 24 hours.