Cold snap grips B.C., sets dozens of records
My, how things have changed: A man suns himself just four weeks ago, on Sept. 13, at the Vancouver waterfront. The temperature on Thanksgiving Day dipped to just above zero, a record for that day in Vancouver.
Photograph by: Jason Payne file, The Province
A cold snap across B.C. broke another set of records early on Thanksgiving Day, including a low mark for this day at the Vancouver International Airport.
The early-morning reading of 0.9 degrees Celsius was a low for Oct. 12 since weather records began being kept decades ago.
"I've counted in excess of 80 cold-temperature records set throughout the long weekend [across the province]," said Environment Canada meteorologist and Global BC weather expert Mark Madryga on Monday.
In many cases, the lows aren't just slipping slightly below old records but "shattering" them, he said.
He cites Williams Lake, where yesterday's minus 13 low broke the old 2002 record of minus 6.5.
"And most of these weather stations go back 50 or 60 years or more," he notes.
Among the new record lows for coastal B.C. on Thanksgiving Day (Oct. 12):
• Vancouver airport: Plus 0.9 (old record 1.1, set in 1972)
• Abbotsford: Minus 1.2 (plus 0.4, '87)
• Victoria: Minus 0.5 (plus 0.6, '72)
• Whistler: Minus 5.2 (minus 3.3, '86)
• Squamish: Minus 1.9 (plus 0.2, '02)
In the B.C. Interior, which had already set dozens of records over the weekend, things remained frigid early Monday. The following records were set:
• Kelowna: Minus 10.2
• Penticton: Minus 8.3
• Kamloops: Minus 7.5
• Cranbrook: Minus 13.0
• Quesnel: Minus 14.0
• Prince George: Minus 10.1
Madryga said the cold snap is attributable to a strong upper-level jet-stream flow that's been steering in arctic air for several days in a row.
"It just kept pushing, pushing, pushing the arctic air southward and took over the entire province," said Madryga.
"It's very early in the year to get this kind of [sustained] arctic flow," he said. "This is more typical of mid- to late November."
But the weather, he said, is due to get back to more seasonal norms in the next couple of days.
"The plan is for this all to ... dramatically change by midweek," he said, as a rainy southwest flow sweeps into the province.
It will mean a "dramatic increase in temperatures," rain for the B.C. coast, and a bit of snow in the Interior that will quickly shift to rain.
The wet stuff and milder temperatures should arrive by Wednesday and intensify by Thursday, he said.
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you sir are a trooper. I like snow, on the mountains, hehe. By March i am really into the spring spirit, but garden wise this is one of the latest springs i have seen. I just looked at the 14 day forecast and we have 1 day reaching average highs, while the other 13 days are below seasonal (also looks that there is a chance we will see another stretch of mix snow and rain conditions near the end of the month)
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