Environment Canada Meteorologist Lisa Ervin says we likely won’t see any records fall in the Cariboo today, but she says with a forecasted low of -33, we could come close in Williams Lake.
“For Williams Lake for January 11th the record low is -36.7 and that was set in 1975, and for the Quesnel area it’s negative 40.6 set back in 1911.”
Ervin says another record that they’ll be watching is for a low daytime high.
“For Quesnel the lowest daytime maximum would be -32.2 and that was set back in 1909. For Williams Lake, since the airport station is up a little bit out of the valley, the temperatures there are a little bit more mild, relatively speaking, but still sitting at -26.1 degrees. That was set in 1971.
Looking ahead, Ervin says we could see a record on Friday for not only a low in Williams Lake but also potentially for a lowest high on January 12th.
“We’re expecting temperatures to sort of bottom out Friday night with a low of -35. Depending on when that low takes place, whether it’s before midnight or after midnight, will change whether or not we’ll get some records. For the Quesnel are we do need temperatures to dip down to abut -38. -39 for Friday night and into Saturday morning. And then for Williams Lake area it’s more like temperatures around -34, -36, that sort of range.”
As for when we will get a break from the bitter cold, Ervin says it will start on Sunday.
“The temperature trend is as follows, today through to about Saturday we’re anywhere from 20 to 25 degrees below normal for the next few days, and then temperatures will start to become more mild as we get into Sunday as we’re only about 15 degrees below normal, and then for early next week still staying cooler than normal but we’re only about 8 to 10 degrees below normal for the Monday onward time period.”
