97-year-old high temperature record among 16 broken in B.C. on Monday

Over 20 places in the province experienced the hottest Sept. 1 on record, with some areas reaching as high as 38 C.

As has been the case every day since Aug. 22, multiple B.C. communities set new high temperature records on Monday.

A total of 16 places in the province saw their hottest Sept. 1 on record this Labour Day, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada, extending B.C.’s streak of days with at least one high temperature record set to 11.

“It’s unusual, certainly,” said ECCC meteorologist Matt Loney, in an interview with CTV News Tuesday.

“I’ve never seen something like this where you’re getting, I guess, 11 days in a row now of a streak of high temperature records – at least one – being broken.”

Loney said it’s difficult to say definitively what the longest streak of such days in B.C. has been, because different weather stations have been operational at different periods of time in the province’s history.

Underlying the streak of hot weather records is what Loney referred to as an “omega block,” a strong ridge of high pressure that has kept more unstable weather at bay.

“(It’s) steered all of the weather offshore, essentially, and nothing can really penetrate it for the time being,” he said. “In fact, it’s rebuilding this week.”

Within the omega block is a mass of warm air that came up from the south, which has combined with “a decent amount of sunshine.”

“That all adds up to the ability to really spike those daytime temperatures,” Loney said.

Monday’s hottest record-setting temperature was seen in Lillooet, where the mercury hit 38.8 C, more than three degrees hotter than the previous record of 35.5 C, set just three years ago in 2022.

All but four of the new records set Monday broke marks that had been set since 2009, and all but five surpassed previous records set in the 2020s.

Of the four 20th century records broken Monday, Clearwater’s was the oldest.

The district saw a high of 35.6 C on Sunday, exceeding the previous record for Sept. 1, which was set at 33.3 C back in 1928, 97 years ago.

Prince George and Quesnel each broke 87-year-old records set in 1938, while the other 20th century record to fall Monday was far more recent: Princeton broke its previous mark from 1998.

The full list of high temperature records set Monday follows, in alphabetical order.

• Burns Lake area: New record of 30.3 C, old record of 27.5 C set in 2024
• Cache Creek area: New record of 38.3 C, old record of 36.4 C set in 2022
• Clearwater area: New record of 35.6 C, old record of 33.3 C set in 1928
• Clinton area: New record of 32.2 C, old record of 30.8 C set in 2024
• Kamloops area: New record of 36.4 C, old record of 35.1 C set in 2022
• Lillooet area: New record of 38.8 C, old record of 35.5 C set in 2022
• Lytton area: New record of 38.2 C, old record of 36.6 C set in 2022
• Merritt area: New record of 35.9 C, old record of 35.2 C set in 2024
• Prince George area: New record of 29.2 C, old record of 28.9 C set in 1938
• Princeton area: New record of 35.6 C, old record of 35 C set in 1998
• Puntzi Mountain area: New record of 31.9 C, old record of 31 C set in 2024
• Quesnel area: New record of 33.6 C, old record of 33.3 C set in 1938
• Sparwood area: New record of 33.2 C, old record of 31.4 C set in 2022
• Tatlayoko Lake area: New record of 32.1 C, old record of 31 C set in 2024
• Vernon area: New record of 34.7 C, old record of 34 C set in 2009
• Williams Lake area: New record of 31.9 C, old record of 29.4 C set in 2024

The daily temperature records reported by Environment Canada are “derived from a selection of historical stations in each geographic area that were active during the period of record,” according to the weather agency.

The latest records come as temperatures heat up again across the province, especially in the Fraser Canyon and Thompson regions, as well as inland areas near the North and Central coasts, where heat warnings were in effect Tuesday.

• Read more: Heat warning in effect as parts of B.C. forecast for mid-30s temperatures

Temperatures are expected to remain elevated in the affected regions at least through Thursday, according to ECCC.

“I think it’s safe to say, like, another three days of likely temperature records somewhere in the province, and four is certainly within striking distance, so we could be looking at 15 – like a half a month – when all is said and done, before we see things start to taper off a bit,” said Loney.

He said climatology is not his area of expertise, but ECCC has teams that conduct “attribution studies” after extreme weather events in an effort to determine whether and how the events in question are related to climate change.

Canada-wide, average annual temperatures have risen by 2.4 C since 1948, according to Environment Canada.