Nanaimo residents flocked to local watering holes this past weekend to beat the heat, including the water park at Departure Bay. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

how hot was it?

Mid-Island heat records smashed during spring heatwave

May 16, 2023 | 2:11 PM

NANAIMO — Less than a week after a meteorologist said we could be in for some record-setting heat this spring, those predictions came true.

Communities across Vancouver Island and much of the province were hit with a scorching weekend, with some daytime high temperature records shattered by several degrees.

Meteorologist Bobby Sekhon said the records started to break on Sunday and continued into Monday.

“We set records on Sunday, May 14, where Qualicum Beach got to 30.7 (degrees Celsius) compared to the previous record of 26.8 from 2018, and Nanaimo set a new record at 32 from the previous record of 31.7 from 1973…it’s certainly a really hot stretch for this early in the year.”

On Monday Qualicum Beach set a new daytime heat record of 32.3 degrees, easily eclipsing the old record of 25.0 degrees in 2006.

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Nanaimo also broke a record on Monday when the temperature hit 31.7 degrees, topping a 30-year-old daily temperature record.

Sekhon said the mercury was dialed up throughout the coast and much of the province to kick off the work week.

“Victoria set a new record of 29.5, previous record was 25.9 from 2006, and just across the water in the Sechelt area, 30.6 compared to the previous record of 26.1 for 2014, so yea it was pretty widespread.”

Sekhon told NanaimoNewsNOW a ridge of high pressured hovering over the region is causing the heat and is “very strong” for this time of year.

He said that the high-pressure ridge is expected to stick around the next few days, before tapering off a bit before May long weekend.

“We’re still going to see temperatures in the high 20’s, and inland temperatures maybe even in the low 30’s for the next couple of days. It’s not until Friday that we probably get more of a pattern shift dropping temperatures down to maybe the low 20’s.”

But does this early heatwave indicate more extreme weather is on its way this year?

The heat dome of June 2021 was followed by the torrential downpour of rain courtesy of back-to-back atmospheric rivers.

Sekhon said it doesn’t mean the two are connected.

“This isn’t quite as severe as what we saw in June 2021, but nonetheless, for this time of the season it’s a really strong ridge of high pressure with the temperatures getting super high. It’s best to stay prepared year-round.”

He said early heat waves like this should remind people to always be prepared for extreme weather events which can affect us year-round.

“Make sure we have ways to stay cool and keep our loved ones cool as well. Checking in on our vulnerable population such as our seniors, especially if they’re living alone. Checking in on young children, people working outdoors… if we just check in with each other, and have a way to stay hydrated and cool, we’ll be ok.”

Sekhon said this early heatwave shouldn’t be used as an indicator of what our summer will feel like, but he adds our generally warmest months of the year are still ahead of us.

A special weather statement from Environment Canada for unseasonably hot weather was in place from late last week until mid day Tuesday, May 16.

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow