WATCH: If the hotter-than-usual June was right up your alley, you’re going to be very happy with Canada Day and the rest of the week. John Hua reports.
High temperatures, vicious storms and flash flooding have been the weather du jour during the month of June.
Environment Canada said 73 record temperatures have been broken over the past three days throughout the province.
The average temperature for B.C. in June was 17.9 celcius; which is 2.2 degrees above normal for this time of year.
Our warmest day was June 29 when the mercury rose to 28.3 celcius — but that temperature doesn’t beat the record. The record was set on June 2, 1970 when the temperature hit 30.6 celcius.
READ MORE: B.C. heatwave leads to spike in power use
With more than 120 wildfires currently burning in B.C. due to dry conditions, it’s no surprise the province had only three days of rain in June. Those three days equated to a total of 11 millimetres of rain compared to the average of 53.8 millimetres for this time of year.
The low amounts of rain has the fire danger ratings in B.C. ranging from high to extreme and campfire bans have been put in place in parts of the South Coast.
Campfires will only be allowed on northern Vancouver Island, the mid-coast portion of the mainland and on Haida Gwaii.
This prohibition covers all BC Parks, Crown lands and private lands within the Coastal Fire Centre, within the following areas:
On Vancouver Island:
- South of Robson Bight
- South of the Nimpkish Valley
- South of Nordstrom Creek on Brooks Peninsula on the outer coast of Vancouver Island, with the exception of the area known as the “Fog Zone” (The Fog Zone is a band of land two kilometres wide that runs south from Nordstrom Creek to Owen Point near Port Renfrew.)
On the mainland
- South of Knight Inlet
All other types of open fires remain prohibited throughout the Coastal Fire Centre’s jurisdictional area, including backyard burning or land-clearing burn piles. Burning barrels, burning cages, fireworks, firecrackers, sky lanterns and binary exploding targets are also prohibited.
Officials on Vancouver Island are already warning of low river levels and the Cowichan Valley has already been at Drought Level 3 for weeks.
Fire crews across B.C. are also on high alert due to the hot and dry conditions.
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