If you think it’s hotter than usual in Revelstoke for this time of year, you’re right.
According to Environment Canada the temperature today – Thursday, May 9 – has already hit 27 C as of 3 p.m., beating the previous record high for the date of 25.6 C, set in 1998.
It marks the third day in row of record highs. Yesterday’s high of 28.3 C was the hottest ever temperature for May 8, beating the past record of 26.1 C, also set in 1998.
Tuesday also saw a record high or 28.3 C, and Monday was almost a record day as well.
Elizabeth Robilliard, a forecaster with Environment Canada, said the recent hot spell was due to a high pressure ridge set up over the province, and that the sunny weather should continue into Saturday, when a cooler, wetter system moves in from the Pacific.
“It’s just the beginning of May. It’s really nothing unusual,” she said. “We do get short spells of hot weather at this time of year.”
The long-range forecast for the summer is calling for warmer and drier weather than normal through the rest of May, June and July, Robilliard said.
The recent dry weather increases the chance of fire throughout the region, said Jordan Turner, a spokesperson with the Southeast Fire Centre. No fire restrictions have been put in place yet.
“The weather pattern of has been indicative of August weather the last couple of days,” he said. “We’ve been lacking precipitation in many locations throughout the province since mid-April, which increases the chances for dry lightning fires.”
