18.2 C is a pretty typical May day in the Fraser Valley.
It was also the recorded high in Abbotsford yesterday, making it the hottest spot in all of Canada.
According to Environment Canada, the weather station at the Abbotsford International Airport recorded a high of 18.2 Celsius on Monday, Jan. 29.
Not only was that 12 C higher than the average January high for that location, the mark also set a new daily temperature record for the station, breaking the previous record of 15.6 C set 64 years ago in 1960. Records have been kept at that station since 1944. The high for the same date in 2023 was 3.5 C and 2022 was 5.2 C.
Abbotsford was the @environmentca hot spot yesterday at 18.2 C – https://t.co/R0B506D9dW pic.twitter.com/9avSyRxLvN
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) January 30, 2024
Jan. 29 temperature records were set at 30 Environment Canada stations across the province: Bella Bella, Cache Creek, Clinton, Comox, Courtenay, Cranbrook, Dawson Creek, Dease Lake, Esquimalt, Fort Nelson, Fort St. John, Gibsons, Gonzales Point, Kamloops, Mackenzie, Malahat, Osoyoos, Penticton, Port Hardy, Powell River, Prince Rupert, Puntzi Mountain, Richmond, Sechelt, Sparwood, Terrace, Vancouver, Victoria and West Vancouver.
Winds from the southwest delivered what felt like “Hawaiian” air to the area, said Roger Pannett a volunteer weather observer for Environment Canada in Chilliwack.
Environment Canada says the daily high temperature at Vancouver’s airport hit 14.3 C on Monday, breaking the previous record of 13.3 C in 1940.
In the Victoria area, five separate stations — Esquimalt, Gonzales, Victoria harbour, Hartland and the University of Victoria — all defeated a record of 13.3 C set in 1931 with a high temp of 15.3 C, recorded at the Gonzales station. Records for most stations that hit highs Monday have been kept since 1874 with the exception of the Victoria International Airport, where records have been kept since 1914 and Malahat which started in 1986.
Both Osoyoos (12.4 C) and Penticton (12.8 C) broke records dating back to 1974, while Summerland (12 C) broke a record held since 1953.
The highs marked a significant swing in temperatures in many communities that were setting record cold temperatures just a few weeks ago.
Abbotsford recorded high temperatures of -10.9 C, -7.2 C and -3 C Jan. 12 to 14 respectively. The same day, Penticton saw -21 C temperatures, a record for that day that had been previously unbroken since 1950.
Meanwhile, flood and avalanche risks remain elevated throughout B.C.’s South Coast, where Avalanche Canada says heavy rains have weakened the snowpack.
The Village of Pemberton has issued an order to get out for six rural properties along Airport Road due to the risk of flooding.
Evacuation alerts are also in place for about 20 other properties in the Pemberton Valley as several waterways swell with melting snow.
The village says properties at risk include those along the Lillooet, Ryan, Miller, Green and Birkenhead rivers, Pemberton Creek and Lillooet Lake.
B.C.’s River Forecast Centre says a flood warning remains in effect for the Squamish River, where an updated bulletin says flows had exceeded once-in-five-year levels at a gauge near Brackendale, north of the Squamish town centre.
The warning also covers tributaries, including the Cheakamus River, which the bulletin says was “expected to exceed bank-full flow.”
Lower-level flood watches are in effect across the rest of the province’s South Coast, spanning all of Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, the North Shore mountains and parts of the Fraser Valley, including the Sumas River.
The forecast centre says a series of “potent” storms had delivered between 80 and 300 millimetres of rain throughout the region since Friday, with the next round expected to start Tuesday night and stretch into Wednesday.
The risk of flooding is expected to persist into Thursday as the final atmospheric river brings further rain and snowmelt, it says.
The latest Avalanche Canada forecast shows the danger rating remains “high” throughout the south Chilcotin and Pacific mountain ranges, including alpine areas around Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton and Garibaldi Provincial Park.
The avalanche risk is also ranked as high in northwestern B.C., including mountains surrounding the communities of Prince Rupert, Terrace and Kitimat.
A bulletin from the forecaster said heavy rains have saturated and weakened the upper snowpack, and conditions in the alpine weren’t expected to improve Tuesday.
—with a file from Canadian Press
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