Parts of Western Canada just crushed more all-time heat records
September began with extreme heat that shattered all-time monthly records across three provinces
British Columbia couldn’t finish out the summer without breaking another noteworthy heat record.
High heat roasting parts of Western Canada in recent days sent temperatures soaring into record territory to start the month.
The province’s typical hot spot of Lytton, which set the national all-time high temperature record three days in a row in 2021, topped out with a high of 39.6°C on Friday afternoon.
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This was the hottest reading ever measured in B.C. during the month of September. Friday’s high temperature in Lytton edged out the province’s previous September record by a few tenths of a degree.
The old monthly record was a 39.0°C high shared between several stations across the B.C. Interior in September 1988. Lytton’s hottest temperature during that heat wave 34 years ago only reached 38.7°C.
B.C. isn’t the only province dealing with record heat. Medicine Hat, Alta., rounded out Saturday with a high of 38.3°C, making this the community’s hottest September day in the books.
Swift Current, Sask., achieved a similar feat, where the community’s 36.4°C high on Saturday also crushed the town’s monthly temperature record.
A strong ridge of high pressure over the western half of North America is responsible for the current stretch of record-setting heat roasting both sides of the border.
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Folks across the western United States are dealing with a long-duration heat wave, with excessive heat warnings blanketing California and Nevada as highs soar into the mid-40s in spots. The hottest conditions early this week could threaten all-time heat records in parts of California.
British Columbia’s shiny new heat record adds one more notch in the belt of an already hot summer across Canada.
Meteorological summer, which runs from June 1 to Aug. 31, came in above-seasonal for almost everyone in Canada save for parts of northern Ontario.
While the West certainly didn’t escape the heat, folks in the East didn’t have an easy summer, either. Multiple cities, including St. John’s, N.L., just wrapped up their hottest summer on record.
