Multiple temperature records have been broken on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, thanks to warmer than usual weather.
Armell Castellan, meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada, says records were broken during the day and overnight in several locations, including Campbell River, Comox, Nanaimo, and Powell River.
He says that 2023 had seen a lot of consistent warmth.
“All summer long into the fall, very little in the way of normal weather as it was always a little above,” said Castellan.
“Reaching into December where places like Victoria, Comox, Campbell River, and even on the mainland reached their warmest Decembers on record.”
He says while the warmth has reached several spots in the province, the warm weather was most noted across the south coast.
Along with the warmer temperatures, 2023 also had some of the driest patterns in some locations.
“Victoria was down in the Top 10 driest years on record since 1915, Comox at 91 percent of normal, and Campbell River at 79.4 percent of normal precipitation,” said Castellan.
“That’s what we are tracking going forward because we are entering the first full month of El Ninó, which typically starts in mid to late December and really brings that warmer trend.”
Castellan adds that they do see a cool down in temperatures for this weekend and early next week, with potential snow to appear, before returning to warmer trends to finish off January.
“From an ecological and environmental perspective, it’s quite clear that we really need not just the coolness, but also the snowpack to really see the rivers, the fish and wildlife that depend on it.”
