Last day of winter sees more record-breaking warmth on Vancouver Island

Last day of winter sees more record-breaking warmth on Vancouver Island
CHEK

File photo courtesy tofinochamber.org.

File photo courtesy tofinochamber.org.

The start of spring Wednesday is on the heels of another record-setting day on Vancouver Island that made the end of winter feel more like summer.

Environment Canada says 42 record-highs were posted around B.C., with Tofino the hot spot in the province by hitting 24.5 degrees Celsius Tuesday.

That easily broke the previous high of 19.4 degrees in 1928.

Other records on Vancouver Island were smashed Tuesday, as the mercury hit 20 degrees in Victoria Harbour on March 19 for the first time since records began in 1874.

The previous high mark at the location was 16.7 degrees, a record that stood for 141 years.

Two other weather stations around Victoria and one in Esquimalt also saw new high temperatures for the day.

A new record was set in Nanaimo, reaching 20 degrees to better the previous mark of 17.8 degrees in 1928.

A new record is nearly five degrees higher for the Malahat area, getting to 19.2 degrees Tuesday to break the 1988 record of 14.5 degrees.

Port Hardy broke the community’s 59-year-old record of 15 degrees, reaching 18.2 degrees Tuesday.

The Estevan Point weather station, located halfway up the west coast of Vancouver Island and part of the Hesquiat Peninsula, got to 19.7 degrees, breaking the previous record of 16 degrees.

Another record was smashed for the Southern Gulf Islands, which hit 22.3 degrees, 4.4 degrees warmer than the old mark.

Environment Canada says a massive ridge of high pressure is camped over the province, keeping any bad weather at bay and delivering unseasonably high temperatures for yet another day.

There were 26 new heat records set Monday in the province.

With files from The Canadian Press.

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