Wednesday broke cold weather record

Environment Canada says B.C. broke 39 cold-weather records Wednesday, including a 68-year-old record in Prince George, as an Arctic front swept across the province.

Matt MacDonald, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, says there were 14 daytime records broken, 18 overnight lows smashed and seven new records for the most snowfall on Oct. 3, including a whopping 59 centimetres of snow in Sparwood, east of Fernie.

He says the front whipped down from the north and clashed with moisture from the Pacific Ocean. MacDonald said more records may be broken overnight, but it’s not likely to be as cold as Wednesday.

The record-breaking temperature for cold in B.C. on Wednesday was Clinton, where -14.2 C was recorded, smashing the old mark of -5 set in 2012.

In Prince George, the mercury dipped to a record -12.1 C, breaking the old one of -9.4 set in 1950.

It was a bone-chilling -11.6 C compared with the old record of -9.1 set in 2013, in the Puntzi Mountain region in the Central Interior. And the Mackenzie area set a record -8.5 C, breaking -5.5 set in 1990.

Even Vancouver saw a record low, though the mercury didn’t go below zero. Environment Canada recorded 1.6 C at YVR on Wednesday, breaking the previous record of 2.8 in 1937.

Other areas that set cold-temperature records were Quesnel (-8.4 C,) Lytton (-1.2,) and Lillooet (-2.9.)

MacDonald said most regions should return to near-seasonal temperatures over the next week, but the overnight lows will remain slightly cooler than normal.

In Vancouver overnight lows are expected to be around 5 C, instead of a seasonal average of around eight.