Late last week was a scorcher in the Alberni Valley with temperatures at the airport weather station hitting the highest numbers ever recorded for these days.
According to Environment Canada statistics, Thursday, Aug. 18 hit 35.5 degrees Friday, Aug. 19 hit 36.6 degrees Celsius and Saturday, Aug. 20 hit 35.2 degrees Celcius.
It’s a big change after a largely rainy July and early August for the Valley.
The highest temperatures for Aug. 2016, reached on Friday with 36.6 degrees Celsius, are the second highest temperatures ever recorded at the airport for August.
The hottest temperature was recorded in 2002 at 38.2 degrees Celsius.
The airport station has been recording weather data since Dec. 1992.
Average temperatures were unusually high as well—at 28.2 degrees Celsius, 2016 currently sits as the second hottest month on average since 1993.
The highest average temperature is 28.6 degrees Celsius in 2014.
August temperatures as a whole have been trending upwards since records began in the mid-1990s.
Between 1993 and 2003, highs for August only hit 35 degrees twice.
Between 2004-2014, high exceeded 35 degrees five times. Average temperatures have also grown. Between 1993 and 2003, the average temperatures for August exceeed 25 degrees Celsius only four times.
Between 2004 and 2014, they exceeded 25 degrees Celsius eight times.
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