Cool air over southern BC breaks low temperature records in Kamloops, Okanagan

Environment Canada says an unseasonable cool air mass over southern B.C. has broken minimum temperature records, including one dating back about 70 years.

The forecaster says temperatures fell to 4 degrees in the Trail area on Sunday, breaking the record of 4.4 degrees set in 1954.

In the Bella Bella area, the minimum of 3.9 degrees broke the 4-degree record set 10 years ago.

Records for low daily maximum temperatures were also set, with the Kelowna area reaching just 13.3 Celsius, breaking the 15-degree record set in 1906.

Penticton and Princeton also reset records established in 1939, while other low daily maximum records were set in Summerland, Sparwood, Nakusp, Merritt and Kamloops.

Lytton was also a record breaker, getting to just 15.2 C, a far cry from the all-time Canadian heat record of 49.6 C set on June 29, 2021, just a day before a wildfire killed two people and destroyed much of the village.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2024.