Blueback Beach in Nanaimo was one of many popular spot for people to cool down during the hottest summer of all time in the Harbour City. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

record-breaker

Nanaimo experiences hottest summer on record

Sep 9, 2021 | 5:31 AM

NANAIMO — Paced by several suffocating heatwaves and limited rain, summer 2021 was one for the record books.

Environment Canada’s meteorological cycle considers June, July and August the summer season for its vast data collection system.

Meteorologist Bobby Sekhon said Nanaimo Airport reported a daily mean temperature of 19.5 celsius over those three months, representing the hottest summer since record-keeping began in 1892.

“It’s not easy to break those records going that far back, but with three to four heatwaves that we saw this year it’s not unexpected,” Sekhon said, who noted the second hottest summer in Nanaimo was in 2015.

An extended week-long heat wave in Nanaimo saw the temperature climb to 40.5 C in Nanaimo on June 28, one tenth of a degree cooler than the hottest day ever in the Harbour City.

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Nanaimo broke several single-day heat records in late June.

The BC Coroners Service reported 529 heat related deaths in the province between June 20 and July 29, including 50 fatalities within Island Health.

“We can see how deadly heat can be if it’s in those extreme ranges. We can expected these currently one in a thousand year events to occur maybe more often in the future as the climate changes,” Sekhon said.

In addition to lives lost, Sekhon said there is much to learn about how extreme heat alters wildlife and our environment.

“We know there’s impacts on fish, trees, drinking water, all these types of things. I’m sure lots of great science will come out of that so we can prepare for the future.”

Summer 2021 also represented the tenth driest in Nanaimo, with 45 millimetres of rain reported or 46 per cent of normal.

The average amount for the station at Nanaimo Airport is 97 millimetres during the summer.

Multiple communities in the province had their hottest summer’s ever, including Campbell River and numerous cities and towns in the interior, Sekhon said.

Prolonged drought conditions in the Nanaimo area followed the fourth driest spring season of all time.

Sekhon expected above average temperatures to persist in the fall from September through November.

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On Twitter: @reporterholmes