Sizzling Sunday smashes 63-year-old weather records across mid-Island

NANAIMO — A scorching mid-June Sunday in 1963 on the mid-Island has all but been wiped from the record books, courtesy of a 2026 heat wave.

According to Environment Canada, the mercury reached 33.2 degrees Celsius on Sunday, June 14, in the Nanaimo area, breaking the record for the hottest June 14 ever recorded, when it hit 30 degrees in 1963. Data has been kept in the region since 1892.

Oceanside also saw temperatures well above normal, with 30.2 degrees recorded in Qualicum Beach on Sunday, smashing the old record of 27.2 degrees, also set in 1963.

Temperature records from the same day the Soviet Union launched a cosmonaut on a five-day mission orbiting the Earth also fell in Campbell River reaching 32.2 degrees on Sunday, beating the old mark of 28.9, while the Comox Valley reached 30.4, besting their old mark for the day by a degree.