Two new temperature records were broken in Revelstoke during last week’s heat wave.
A record high was set on Wednesday, March 30, when the thermometer hit 19.4 C, beating the old record of 18.3 C, set back in 1941. The next day it got even hotter, with the thermometer hitting 21.4 C — almost three degrees above the old record for the day of 18.7 C, set in 2013.
On Friday, Apr. 1, the record was tied when the temperature reached 20.6 C, according to Environment Canada.
The record high for March was set on March 18, 1947, when the temperature reached 22.2 C. Records for Revelstoke go back to 1898.
Revelstoke wasn’t unique in B.C. last week; records were set across the province and in the Yukon, from Vancouver to Whitehorse.
Lisa Coldwells, a meteorologist with Environment Canada said the heat wave was the result of an “an exceptionally large upper ridge for this time of year.”
“It’s more like a summer phenomenon than early spring,” she said.
The ridge stretched from northern California to the Yukon.
“These ridges generally stick around for five days, which is what we’re seeing,” Coldwells said last Thursday. “It’s beginning to deteriorate and shift eastward. We have a couple more really nice days forecast then it will break down and we will return to more normal temperatures by the end of next week, with some cloud and showers.”