More temperature records have fallen to start the week, with Nanaimo breaking its third in a row amid an early May heatwave. (Image Credit: Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

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More Nanaimo & Oceanside temperature records tumble as heat wave persists

May 5, 2026 | 8:45 AM

NANAIMO — For the third time in as many days, the Harbour City has rewritten Environment Canada’s record books.

The mercury at the Nanaimo Airport monitoring station reached 29.1 degrees Celsius on Monday, May 4, breaking a record of 26.4 degrees set back in 1980.

Qualicum Beach also set a new benchmark for the day with temperatures at the airport reaching 28.9 degrees, shattering a 2013 record of 23.5 degrees for the same day.

Records in Nanaimo and Qualicum Beach have been kept since 1892 and 1962, respectively.

Multiple other Island and coastal communities also set new records for an unseasonably warm Monday.

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Port Alberni reached 30.6 degrees, breaking a record set in 1915 by just over a degree, while Campbell River (29.3 degrees), Comox (27.6), Duncan (28.9), and Powell River (27.1) also reached new highs.

Similar conditions are expected across much of the region on Tuesday, May 5, with a forecasted high of 23 degrees in Nanaimo and Oceanside, however inland temperatures and humidity will make things feel much warmer.

The record for Nanaimo on May 5 is 28.7 degrees, set in 2013.

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by NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

More Nanaimo & Oceanside temperature records tumble as heat wave persists

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