More heat records set in B.C., but long-range forecast suggests rain may be on the way

Parts of British Columbia saw record-high temperatures Thursday, but cooler weather is in the forecast for the end of next week, according to Environment Canada.

Records were set in 21 communities around the province on Thursday, some of which had stood for more than a century.

Hot spots included Squamish at 26.5 C and Port Alberni at 25.7 C, along with 24 C temperaturesin Pitt Meadows, Agassiz, Hope and the Tatlayoko Lake area southwest of Williams Lake.

The federal weather office says the heat record set in Port Alberniwas 106 years old, while the temperature of 21.1 C in Nelson tied a record set in that city a century ago.

"When temperatures are in the low 20s, it's somewhere between depending on where you arefiveto 10 degrees above average for this time of year," Derek Lee, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said.

Higher than normal temperatures are expected through the weekend for Metro Vancouver, as well as hazy, smoky skies.

Recent weather has been part of a longer trend of warm, dry weather that began inAugust.

Lee said Metro Vancouverusually would receivearound 51 millimetres of rain in September, but last month the Vancouver Airport only sawsevenmillimetres.

Weather for the regionis likely to changelate next week, he added, with apattern possiblybringing showers that could signal a shift to fall-like weather.

Hazy skies

Meanwhile, the Metro Vancouver regional district has issued an air quality advisory for the eastern Fraser Valley due to smoke from wildfires burning northeast of Chilliwack, near Hope andHarrison Lake, as well as inWashington state.

The advisory says hazy conditions may be experienced in other parts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, although concentrations of fine particulate matter in those areas are below advisory thresholds.

Stagnant weather conditions are expected to continue for at least the next few days and air quality may not change until the weather turns.

The advisory also says smoke concentrations may vary widely across the region.