It continues to be a historically hot July in B.C., with more temperature records broken on Friday.
Two communities, Dease Lake and Whistler, saw their hottest July 7ths on record, reaching 30.2 C and 32.2 C, respectively.
And on Saturday morning, Environment and Climate Change Canada issued a swath of heat warnings for the weekend, covering much of the province’s Interior and parts of the North.
The warnings are in place for the Okanagan Valley, south Fraser Canyon including Lytton, 100 Mile, North and South Thompson, Cariboo, inland sections of the North and South Coast, Fort Nelson and Watson Lake.
The mercury is expected to rise the highest in the Fraser Canyon and Okanagan, where the forecast calls for daytime high temperatures near 35 C and overnight lows near 18 C.
In the other regions covered by the warning, temperatures are expected to hit the low 30s during the day and the mid teens at night.
In Fort Nelson and Watson Lake, the heat will reach its peak on Sunday, but temperatures will remain higher than normal through next week, according to ECCC.
The other affected regions will see temperatures gradually return to more seasonal values by early next week.
Information on how to prepare for extreme heat is available on the BC Centre for Disease Control’s website.
In addition, ECCC issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Nicola region Saturday afternoon. The storm on the way is capable of producing “very strong wind gusts, up to nickel size hail and heavy rain,” the weather agency wrote.
The thunderstorm is stationary and is located 15 kilometres south of Fort St. James on Highway 27, according to ECCC.
Meanwhile, a large portion of the province—from Terrace in the northwest down to Osoyoos in the southeast—is under a severe thunderstorm watch.
