UPDATE 5:15PM – Day Record Broken – Multiple All Time Records in play- Fire Danger rising
The graph for the month of May showing high temperatures at all historic stations.
5:15PM Update - Daily Record Broken - Monthly Safe.
We have NOT hit 35 officially at the Airport and it is unlikely that we will, the high so far has been 33.4°C. This is enough to break the daily record easily (30.6) but not the monthly of 35.0ºC.
However, in town here at Alberniweather we hit a high of 35.3°C.
Daily Records
We *just missed* an all time record on Sunday. We hit 32.5º at the Airport officially which was a fraction of a degree from the 32.8ºC set May 14, 1939 at the old Port Alberni City station. Alberniweather recorded 33.5ºC on Sunday.
However, If we hit our forecast high at the Airport of 35°C then we will definitely set a new All Time high for May 15 in the Alberni Valley by a whopping 5 degrees.
The current record is held by the Beaver Creek station at 30.6°C, May 15 1925.
The mark to beat for tomorrow, May 16 is 32.8°C (Beaver Creek 1952) which it looks like we have a chance at.
Month of May Record - May 31, 1986
35ºC is the hottest temperature ever recorded in Port Alberni in May. That has happened three times before, at Beaver Creek on May 12, 1924 and at Robertson Creek on May 28, 1983 and May 31, 1986.
However, while the Robertson Creek values look OK, the Beaver Creek record is probably an anomaly. If you see the table below I’ve highlighted the table in my compilation. The historic City of Port Alberni station was also active in 1924 and only shows a high of 27.4ºC. That is a much larger difference than would be normal. Lake Cowichan shows 30.6 and Nanaimo 28ºC. So I suspect the Beaver Creek value is ‘overcooked’.
But we still have the Robertson Creek station to beat.
No matter what, it’s going to be very hot today. It will back off a little tomorrow and then more by mid-week but expect it to stay in the mid-20s through the weekend.
The Fire Danger rating is currently moderate to high.
Stay safe out there, drink lots of water, jump in the (still chilly! lake) and have a great week.
If we do set an all-time record, I’ll update this post.
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