It’s Hot.
Yes, it’s very hot. Hot enough to set records at the Airport for the day. July 7, 2024 set a new station record of 35.3ºC. That’s exactly 2ºC higher than the previous record of 33.3ºC set in 2010.
It also follows in the footsteps of the three records set last year on the 4th, 5th, and 6th of 32, 34, and 33 respectively. We came close to breaking those again this year but not quite.
Today, July 8th, if we hit our forecast high of 36ºC then we will break the Airport’s record of 35.5ºC set (again) in 2010. The same goes for Tuesday July 9. If we reach our forecast high of 37ºC on Tuesday, we will beat (smash?) the previous Airport record of 32.7ºC in 2015.
That should be the end of the record breaking heat.
But wait…
All Time Records
The records you generally hear about are measured against the existing Environment Canada station at the Airport since 1994. But what about before then? Well, then you’re talking all-time records for the Valley since 1900. There are a bunch of stations over the years. You can see them together by going to any of the monthly or seasonal summary posts and looking for the Valley Stations link.
The records the Airport set last July did not quite break the all time records. Generally all-time records are around 35ºC for this time of year.
The All Time record for July 7th? That would be 36.7ºC in 1931 at the old Port Alberni city station. So we didn’t quite get there officially, though at Alberniweather it got up to 37.5ºC. We could talk a bit about the differences between the Valley/Airport stations and the City stations… but I’ll resist. 🙂
So what about Today, July 8 and Tomorrow.
The All Time High for July 8 is: 36.7ºC at Port Alberni City station in 1931.
The All Time High for July 9 is: 40.6ºC at Beaver Creek station in 1926.
July 9, 1926 is one of the hottest days ever recorded and one of the very few over 40 days in Port Alberni’s records.
In fact, July 8, 9, and 10 of 1926 featured the hottest days ever recorded before the 2021 Heat Dome. July 9, 1926 was the hottest: 41.7ºC before that record was smashed by the Heat Dome on June 28, 2021. (45.5ºC at Robertson Creek, 42.7ºC at the Airport).
I don’t believe we will get over 40ºC this week, but it’s definitely possible this summer.
The history of over-40 summer days.
As I slowly get around to the June Summary (sorry) I’ve looked at the extreme maximum temperatures measured for Summer, June/July/August. The chart below shows the maximum summer tempreatures, the thick black line marks 40ºC.
We can see that in the 124 year record since 1900, only 8 summers featured temperatures above 40ºC. Notice the Heat Dome in 2021 set records for both stations, the Airport, Robertson Creek, that were higher than the previous all time highs of July 1926.
We would have to beat the forecast high by at least 3ºC in order to hit 40ºC this week. It’s not likely, but it’s possible.
As I type and hit send on this post it is 11:35AM and it’s already 31.3ºC. Stay safe, cool, and wet out there.
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