Penticton and Kamloops both broke the cities’ all-time temperature records dating back to 1941 on Monday (June 28) as the province continues to be blanketed by an unprecedented ‘heat dome.’
Kelowna also broke its heat record Monday with record highs of 42.9, breaking its old record of 41 C set in 1998.
All three cities first topped the decades-old records on Sunday (June 29) before recording even hotter temperatures Monday.
Kamloops residents endured 45.8 C heat on Monday, shattering its previous hottest ever day when it was 41.7 C in 1941.
And Penticton recorded the city’s hottest ever temperature Monday at 42.5 C, nearly two degrees warmer than the previous record of 40.6 set on July 17, 1941.
Penticton and Kelowna are both expected to set new records again today (June 29).
Meanwhile, three hours northwest, the village of Lytton, B.C. set the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada at a blistering 47.9 C.
What’s unique about B.C.’s current record-shattering heatwave is its staying power. Typically, weather records are broken during a one-off event before conditions quickly return to the status quo, explained Environment Canada meteorologist Mike Gismondi.
This heatwave, however, is expected to consist of multiple consecutive record breaking days.
“I don’t know what to say about it. We’ve never seen this before,” said Gismondi.
Other communities in the Okanagan saw their own daily records for June 29 beaten soundly.
Summerland beat their previous high from 2015 of 36.1 degrees by more than four degrees, with 40.3 C recorded.
Princeton beat their 2015 record by more than 4.5 C, with 42.7 recorded in 2021 over the previous high of 38 C.
Osoyoos broke a 21-year record of 37.7 C from 2000, with a high of 42.7 recorded by Environment Canada.
The last record in the Okanagan that was set for June 28 was in Salmon Arm, which beat its old record of 37.3 in 2015 with a high of 38.8.
Right now in the middle of the heatwave, Environment Canada is advising people to take plenty of precautions, including drinking lots water, staying in a cool place and checking on older friends and family members to make sure they’re staying hydrated too, and of course never leave pets or children in hot cars.
READ MORE: ‘Lay low and let this pass’: Okanagan Sunday temperatures beat records again
READ MORE: 25 people die in 24 hours in Burnaby; believed to be due to heat wave
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