More than a century ago, a Sunday in Vernon was hot.
It was hotter this time around.
Vernon set a new temperature record Sunday, Oct. 2, reaching a maximum high of 25.3 degrees, breaking the old mark of 24.4 degrees establishing on Oct. 2, 1904 – which was also a Sunday.
“It’s definitely warmer than the average of what we’re used to seeing,” said Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Derek Lee Monday, Oct. 3, confirming the new record.
The beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures are thanks to a ridge of high pressure hovering over the B.C. Interior and that’s not going to change this week.
“The ridge of high pressure is still around and the temperatures will continue to be above average,” said Lee.
Sunday’s record-breaking heat is the second one the city has experienced in less than a week.
Tuesday, Sept. 27 reached 27.3 C, scorching the previous high of 26.1 set in 1967.
Summer appears to be hanging on with temperatures above the seasonal average across the southern Interior, and the warmth is expected to continue into October.
Meteorologist Alyssa Charbonneau said a strong ridge of high pressure has been sitting over B.C., warming Vernon’s usual average high of 16 for this time of year.
“It’s basically extended our summer weather right into the beginning part of fall,” Charbonneau said. “Normally as we get into the fall weather we start to get into a more active storm track and we just haven’t had that happen yet, so this ridge has been persistent and it’s just been bringing us quite a bit of warm, sunny weather.”
READ MORE: Summer sticking around: Vernon breaks 55-year-old heat record
READ MORE: Long trail of satellites dazzle night sky over the Okanagan
@VernonNews
roger@vernonmorningstar.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
