West: Temperature records keep toppling, what's ahead?
A strong, warm airmass has sent temperature records toppling like dominoes in B.C., Yukon and the Northwest Territories
Spring has come down on western Canada with a vengeance, with several days' worth of record-toppling warmth, including in the north, where some communities have seen their highest all-time March temperatures.
Visit our Complete Guide to Spring 2019 for an in depth look at the Spring Forecast, tips to plan for it and much more
As a strong upper ridge remains locked across much of western Canada, a surge of warm air has been sending daytime highs right into August-like values for parts of the region. Perspective: One spot in northern Canada was actually WARMER than Miami, Florida on Tuesday.
WATCH BELOW: MILDER TEMPERATURES MOVE IN
NWT WARMER THAN MIAMI, FLORIDA
As temperatures soared for the fourth day in a row on Wednesday, the north saw its own share of records fall.
"An all-time March temperature record has been set as Yohin Lake in the Northwest Territories reached 21.8°C on Tuesday afternoon," says Weather Network meteorologist Tyler Hamilton. "Miami, Florida on the same day recorded a high temperature of 21.7°C."
On Monday, Yohin Lake's high of 18.8° was already the all-time March record for the territory, doing even better on Tuesday by boasting that location's first March daytime high above 20°C ever on record.
Wednesday saw the territory fall back to Earth somewhat, but still with a respectable number of broken records there and in neighbouring Yukon.
ALMOST 50 TEMPERATURE RECORDS BROKEN IN B.C. WEDNESDAY
Wednesday was yet another day of temperatures easily breezing past the 20°C mark in B.C., with Squamish and Hope topping out just a tenth of degree shy of 26°C.
Aside from being simply hotter than previously recorded, some of the records that have been broken have been remarkable. Tofino, for example, made it to 24.5°C on Tuesday, crushing a record dating back to the 1920s.
"This is one of the more extreme stats that I have found here in my time at The Weather Network," Weather Network meteorologist Tyler Hamilton says. "On Tuesday, Tofino Airport recorded a staggeringly high temperature of 24.5°C, shattering the all-time March record. And in fact, if that would've occurred in April, that also would've been an April all-time temperature record."
Elsewhere, Abbotsford's Wednesday high of 24.7°C not only broke its record for March 20, it also capped off the town's earliest-recorded three-day streak of temperatures at or above 20°C. The only other time in March when there's been four consecutive 20 degree days in Abbotsford, although later in the month, was back in 1994.
HOW LONG WILL THE WARM PATTERN LAST?
All this warmth comes with some significant dangers, however, thanks to a healthy snowpack in place for the mountains.
Ahead, warm temperatures continue into Saturday (though not as warm as this week has been), and B.C. becomes cooler Monday night through the middle of the following week.
Precipitation-wise, there's a period of showers Friday night into Saturday, and unsettled weather Monday night through the middle of the week, though no major storms are on the horizon just now.
