Heat records fall in 10 B.C. communities Friday

The warm weekend that was forecasted for B.C. has arrived, and 10 communities experienced their hottest March 15 on record Friday, according to data from Environment and Climate Change Canada.

The warm weekend that was forecasted for B.C. has arrived, and 10 communities experienced their hottest March 15 on record Friday, according to data from Environment and Climate Change Canada.

One of the records that fell had stood for 119 years. Until this year, the warmest March 15 in Quesnel was way back in 1905, when the mercury rose to 16.7 C. On Friday, it got to 18.4 C.

The warmest new record was recorded in Squamish, where it reached 19.5 C, surpassing a previous high of 17 C from 1988.

A ridge of high pressure is bringing a warm air mass to B.C., ECCC meteorologist Lisa Ervin explained to CTV News Friday.

She said most of the province will experience temperatures five-to-10 degrees above normal for the season this weekend, and more records could fall in the coming days.

The warm temperatures are forecast to last until Tuesday, before more typical March weather—including rain—returns later in the week. Patios and golf courses are expected to be full as British Columbians embrace the brief period of sun and almost-summer-like warmth.

In Vancouver, residents flocked to Kitsilano Beach to soak up the sun on Saturday. “I couldn’t be any more excited,” one beach-goer, Alex White, told CTV News.