59 temperature records broken in a single day as B.C. swelters under 'heat dome'

Rural communities not equipped for climate change Natural Resources Canada's Brian Eddy says that many of the country's remote and rural communities won't be able to handle climate change.

VANCOUVER — Dozens of daily heat records fell over the weekend as British Columbians wilted under what has been called a "prolonged heat dome."

The ominous-sounding term from the Weather Network refers to an intense heat that has settled in over much of Western Canada.

What happens, the agency says, is warm air from a high pressure system gets trapped in lower elevations as it's compressed into layers near the surface.

The Weather Network says it creates a "feedback loop." Essentially, it doesn't get much cooler overnight, leading to more hot days.

The phenomenon has resulted in record-breaking heat in Canada's western-most province, including in the community of Lytton, which saw the hottest temperature ever in Canadian history Sunday, at 46.6 C.

This is 1.6 degrees warmer than the previous record set in Saskatchewan in 1937.

While the temperatures didn't run as high as in Lytton, nearly five dozen other weather stations operated by Environment Canada also noted record temperatures.

According to preliminary data from the federal weather agency, Sunday was the warmest June 27 on record at 59 weather stations.

Listed alphabetically, records were broken in the following locations: