More than a dozen minimum temperature records broken in B.C. amid cold snap

More than a dozen minimum temperature records were broken in B.C. Wednesday as an Arctic airmass arrived over the province.

More than a dozen minimum temperature records were broken in B.C. Wednesday as an Arctic airmass arrived over the province.

Preliminary data shared by Environment Canada revealed 17 records fell due to low morning temperatures after weather advisories were in place for several days.

Several of the records broken in B.C. are decades old, including one in Duncan that was set more than a century ago. On Wednesday morning, temperatures in that city dipped to -7.7 C. The previous record of -7.2 C was set in 1917.

Other temperature records broken in B.C. according to Environment Canada's preliminary data include:

As of Thursday morning, only Metro Vancouver, Howe Sound and Fraser Valley remained under any sort of weather advisory. The special weather statement for those regions warned overnight temperatures could dip to -5 C, but feel like -10 C with wind chill.

After that, "a gradual warming trend" is expected to start on the weekend, Environment Canada's advisory said.

Earlier this month, regions across B.C. broke other records, but for warm temperatures. On Feb. 7, 11 communities saw records fall over a so-called false spring, including some records that were more than a century old.