Trail was the hot spot in the province on Tuesday when the mercury spiked at 38.3 C around 4 p.m.
In fact, that temperature broke the 74-year-old record heat of 37.2 C set on Aug. 6, 1945.
And, while this heat wave may sting energy bills of those fortunate enough to have air conditioning, the rays have actually been a boon for business at the Warfield Centennial Pool.
Previous: Warfield was the hot spot in Canada
Manager Sarah Yorston says the outdoor pool was quiet in last month due to frequent showers, but no matter the weather, long weekends are generally quiet.
That wasn’t the case this year, however.
“I was kind of surprised,” she told the Trail Times. “We were really busy over the long weekend and yesterday (Tuesday), which was great to see lots of people coming out, bringing picnic lunches and staying for quite a few hours.”
While she didn’t want to jinx it, Yorston is looking forward to more of the same between now and Aug. 31, the last day to take a dip.
“I am hoping we are going to make up for the less than ideal July, because that was pretty disappointing,” she said. “But so far, these past couple of weeks, we have had huge community support. Lots of people in lessons, and our Aquafit program, that goes on Monday night, has seen the highest registration in years. So everything is going really well.”
Until the end of today (Thursday) Yorston’s wish may come true because Environment Canada has issued a special weather alert for the West Kootenay, advising of a hot spell expected to last through the day.
A ridge of high pressure originating from the desert U.S. has set up shop over the B.C. interior and will stick around for the next couple days, the Aug. 7 statement reads.
“It will produce the first spell of hot weather so far this summer. Communities will see daytime highs soar into mid-30s while overnight lows recover to the low to mid-teens.”
The organization reminds the public to protect themselves from the heat by drinking plenty of water, scheduling outdoor activities during the coolest parts of the day, and never leaving people or pets inside a parked vehicle.
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s criteria for issuing a heat warning requires maximum temperatures greater than 35 C and overnight lows greater than 18 C for two or more consecutive days.
Many locales will reach or exceed the 35 C high temperature threshold, but most areas will drop below 18 C at night.
Looking back at last summer, Warfield was the hottest spot in all of Canada on July 16 when the temperature hit 39 C.
Notably, weather statistics have only been kept in the Trail area since 1928.
A reprieve from the heat is expected to begin Friday. Thunderstorms are called for as temperatures transition to more seasonal norms over the weekend.
Interestingly, the highest temperature officially recorded in Canada is 45 C (113 Fahrenheit), which occurred on July 5, 1937 at Midal and at Yellow Grass, two small towns in southeastern Saskatchewan. The Canadian high site far below the North American all-time maximum temperature of 56.7 C (134 Fahrenheit) recorded in Death Valley, California on July 10, 1913.
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