This year may go down as one of the greenest Christmases many British Columbians have seen in recent years, with flowers still blooming on some of the shortest days of the year.
Temperatures have been well above chilly wintry norms in many B.C. cities, and on Wednesday there were 13 daily high temperature records broken across the province as the warmer weather persisted.
In Victoria, in the aftermath of high winds, temperatures were close to balmy, breaking records set a century earlier.
Near the University of Victoria, in the harbour and Hartland areas, new temperature records were set when the mercury reached 12.9 C at each monitoring session, breaking a record of 12.8 C set in 1922.
In the Esquimalt and Gonzales Point areas, new records of 12.9 C were set, breaking records of 12.8 C set in 1922.
In the Estevan Point area, a new record of 13.3 C was set, breaking the record of 12 C set in 1979.
In Malahat a new record of 9.7 C was set, breaking the record of 9.4 C set in 2005.
It was similarly warm on the Sunshine Coast. Sechelt saw temperatures rise to 13.7 C Wednesday, breaking a record of 13 C set in 1980.
In the Gibsons area, the old record was surpassed by several degrees, when thermometers recorded a daily high of 13.7 C, breaking a record of 10.9 C set in 2022.
Powell River saw a new record of 11.2 C set, breaking a record of 10.6 C set in 1947.
The warmest record-breaker, however, was in West Vancouver, where temperatures rose to 14 C, breaking a record of 11.5 C set in 1986. Similarly, in White Rock, it was 13.5 C and that broke a record of 12.2 C set in 1935.
In the Interior of B.C., one city broke a record: Osoyoos, where the temperature reached 6.9 C, breaking a record of 6.2 C set in 1994.
Several wind records were also set on Wednesday, with Solander Island, located along the northwest coast of Vancouver Island, recording a maximum gust of 152 km/h.
North Coast and Central Coast:
- Cape St James: 111 km/h
- Cumshewa Island: 104 km/h
- Sandspit Airport: 100 km/h
- Bonilla Island: 96 km/h
- Rose Spit: 94 km/h
- Green Island Lighthouse: 93 km/h
- Cathedral Point: 85 km/h
- Pine Island Lighthouse: 83 km/h
- Kindakun Rocks: 81 km/h
- Langara Island: 78 km/h
South Coast and Vancouver Island:
- Solander Island: 152 km/h
- Sartine Island: 139 km/h
- Herbert Island: 122 km/h
- Nootka Lighthouse: 102 km/h
- Pam Rocks: 100 km/h
- Cape Beale Lighthouse: 89 km/h
- Tofino Airport: 85 km/h
- Sisters Island: 83 km/h
- Saturna Island: 83 km/h
- Discovery Island: 81 km/h
- Port Hardy: 80 km/h
- Grief Point: 78 km/h
- Kelp Reefs: 78 km/h
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