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White Rock breaks heat record while air-quality advisory remains in effect

Aug. 12 temperature of 37 C beats 1995 mark by seven degrees
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Falling ash and wild-fire smoke made for hazy skies over South Surrey Friday morning. (Geoffrey Yue photo)

More than a dozen B.C. communities, including White Rock, smashed historic temperature records Thursday, as one of B.C.’s hottest summers on record continues.

Yesterday, White Rock reached a high of 37 C – beating the previous Aug. 12 record of 30 C, which was set back in 1992; records have been kept in the area since 1929.

Other communities with record-setting temperatures included Abbotsford, Squamish, Pitt Meadows, Comox, Agassiz and Pemberton.

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The Semiahmoo Peninsula has broke a handful of heat records in recent months, including four straight days in June – from the 25th to the 28th, with the 28th being the warmest of the days, at 38.5 C. On May 10, White Rock recorded a temperature of 29.1, which topped the previous mark of 26.7 that had lasted for nearly 80 years.

The extreme heat was expected to continue today – an extreme heat bulletin was issued by Fraser Health this week, advising people to stay safe – though wild fire smoke that has wafted south from B.C.’s Interior may stifle any records.

For the second day in a row, however, an air-quality advisory, issued by Metro Vancouver, remains in effect from Vancouver to Hope due to high concentration of fine particulate matter from the smoke, as well as ozone levels due to the heat.



editorial@peacearchnews.com

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