Multiple temperature records were set across Vancouver Island and B.C. on Wednesday, including a 15-year-old mark in Qualicum Beach. (Image Credit: Dreamstime)

By NanaimoNewsNOW

heat wave

Oceanside temperature record broken amid unseasonably warm February

Feb 5, 2026 | 12:00 PM

QUALICUM BEACH — A 15-year-old temperature record is no more after a February blast of warm air hit the region.

Temperatures reached 14.5 degrees at Qualicum Beach Airport on Wednesday, Feb. 4, far surpassing a daily record set in 2011 of 13.6.

Records have been kept at the airport since 1962.

Oceanside wasn’t the only hotspot on Wednesday as temperatures soared upwards of six to eight degrees above normal.

Powell River reached 15.2 degrees, topping a 1941 record of 13.9, while Port Hardy made it to 13.8 degrees Celsius, eclipsing 12.4 degrees set back in 1992.

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The coastal community of Bella Bella reached 19.5 degrees on Wednesday, making it the provincial hotspot and breaking a 1993 mark of 16.4 degrees.

It was the warmest February day ever recorded in the rural settlement.

Temperatures are expected to remain unseasonably warm through the weekend, before returning to more normal February conditions on Monday, Feb. 7.

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