99-year-old temperature record broken in B.C. Friday

A meadow in Pemberton, B.C., is pictured in an undated photo. (Shutterstock.com)

The last day of February was sunny and unseasonably warm across much of B.C. In five communities, it was the hottest Feb. 28 on record.

Pemberton saw the mercury rise to 13.8 C Friday, breaking the previous record of 12.8 C, which was set 99 years ago in 1926.

Friday’s hottest record-breaking temperature was 15.9 C, recorded in Merritt. The previous all-time high for Feb. 28 in that city was 15 C in 1932.

Also breaking a record set in 1932 was Kelowna, which narrowly exceeded its previous warmest Feb. 28 with a high of 12.3 C on Friday. The old record was 12.2 C.

The other two records set Friday were in Clearwater – which saw a high of 12.3 C, breaking the previous record of 10.6 C set in 1959 – and the Puntzi Mountain area, where the new record is 9.3 C, exceeding the previous high mark of 8.8 C seen in 2021.

Environment and Climate Change Canada says the temperature records it reports “have been derived from a selection of historical stations in each geographic area that were active during the period of record.”