As spring rapidly unfolds in the Cariboo Chilcotin temperature records kept since 1961 are being broken in Williams Lake.
For Monday, March 18, Environment Canada noted the area reached a high of 15.1C, breaking the previous record high of 12.2 C set on that day in 1997.
On Tuesday, March 19, the high measured at the airport was 15.7 C which would have beat the highest temperature on record of 13.0 C, on that day in 1997.
The forecast for Wednesday, March 20 — the official first day of spring— is for a high of 17 C, which again exceeds the 1999- recorded high of 14.6 C and in 2002 when the low was -21.7 C.
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It is quite different than back in 1975, when there was still 58 centimetres of snow on the ground in Williams Lake during the third week of March.
Overnight, the temperatures are still dipping down as low as -2C, even to lower temperatures at some elevations.
It came as no surprise when earlier this week, Avalanche Canada issued a special public avalanche warning for recreational backcountry users because of the significant warming forecast to hit B.C. and Alberta. This “dramatic” temperature rise will increase the likelihood of avalanches throughout the mountains.
At the same time, with the warm weather and B.C.’s spring break, it is expected there will be more people heading into the mountains.
On March 8, the B.C. River Forecast Centre noted the snow basin index for the entire Fraser River was 91 per cent of normal.
The Climate Prediction Centre at the U.S. National Weather Service/NOAA has declared that El Niño conditions are present and is forecasting a high likelihood of El Niño continuing through the spring 2019.
Get out the sunscreen.
news@wltribune.com
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