For some areas, it was the third consecutive cold day to break a record.
Bella Bella, Clinton, Nakusp and Puntzi Mountain all saw their lowest minimum temperatures for April 16 on Saturday and each recorded or equaled their record low on April 14 and 15, according to Environment Canada.
Mount Puntzi, about 180 miles[180 km]west of Lake Williams, has held record temperatures since 1959. Saturday’s low of -13.3 C surpassed the previous record of -11.1 set in 1970.
Nakusp, which holds records from 1966, also broke a record from 1970 with a temperature of -4.4 on Saturday. The previous low record for April 16 was -2.8.
Clinton’s low -9.5 surpassed the -7.2 record set in 1976, while Bella Bella’s previous record of -1.2 was set recently, in 2013. The village saw temperatures reach -4, 6 on Saturday.
Some of the other records that fell on Saturday were over 100 years old.
Bella Coola’s previous low record for April 16 was -3.9, set in 1901. Temperatures dropped to -4.4 on Saturday. Records have been kept in the area since 1895.
Similarly, Quesnel, Nelson and Prince George broke records from 1909, 1918 and 1927, respectively.
The oldest records on Saturday, however, were in Vancouver and Princeton, both of which had low temperatures not seen on April 16 since the 19th century.
Temperatures of -1.2 in Vancouver broke the previous record of -0.6 set in 1896 and Princeton lows reached -8.4, exceeding -6.7 observed in 1895.
The full list of 23 temperature records set for Saturday, according to preliminary data from Environment Canada, is as follows:
Bella Bella Area: New record -4.6, old record -1.2 set in 2013 Bella Coola Area: New record -4.4, old record -3.9 set in 1901 Blue River Area: New record -9, old record -8.9 set in 1971 Burns Lake Area: New record -11.5, previous record -11.4 was set in 2000 Cache Creek Area: New record -4.1, previous record -4 set in 1995 Clinton area: New record -9.5, previous record -7.2 set in 1976 Kamloops Area: New record -5.5, previous record -5 set in 1971 Lillooet area: New record -3.4, previous record -1.7 set in 1973 Lytton area: New record -3.6, previous record -2.2 was set in 1971 Merritt Area: New record -8.3, previous record -6.7 was set in 1971 Nakusp area: New record -4.4, previous record -2.8 was set in 1970 Nelson Area: New record -3.4, previous record -2.8 was set in 1918 Port Hardy Area: New record -2.9, previous record -1.1 was set in 2013 Prince George Area: New record -9.5, previous record -9.4 was set in 1927 Princeton Region: New record -8.4, previous record -6.7 set in 1895 Puntzi Highland: New record -13.3, previous record -11.1 set in 1970 Quesnel area: New record -9.1, previous record -8.9 set in 1909 Sechelt area: New record -0.6, previous record -0.5 was set in 1995 Sparwood area: New record -10.8, previous record -6.8 was set in 1995 Squamish Area: New record -2.7, previous record -1.7 was set in 1964 Lake Tatlayoko area: New record -12.9, previous record -12.2 set in 1968 Trail Area: New record -3.9, previous record -2.6 was set in 2013 Vancouver Area: New record -1.2, previous record -0.6 set in 1896
Environment Canada says these temperature recordings come from “a selection of historic stations in each geographic area that were active during the recording period.”
Although the data is considered preliminary, Environment Canada meteorologist Gregg Walters told CTV News on Saturday that this is because additional data may still be collected, not because of concerns about the accuracy of the data already collected.
Walters attributed the recent cold to the combination of a trough over the center and south BC. and clear skies during the night. He said the current weather pattern is expected to change gradually next week, with low overnight temperatures gradually becoming more seasonal.
