A range of daily weather records were broken on Vancouver Island on Friday, as temperatures dipped well below 0°C.
An arctic airmass that settled over B.C. and most of Western Canada caused the mercury to dip to new lows in eight Vancouver Island communities.
SEE ALSO: Arctic outflow warning lifted for Greater Victoria
Victoria broke a more than 60-year-old weather record, with temperatures dropping to -10.7°C, beating the old record of -9.4°C set in 1963.
Duncan also saw a nearly 90-year-old weather record fall, with temperatures reaching -12.8°C on Friday. The previous daily record was -11.7°C set in 1937, according to Environment Canada.
Meanwhile, the Malahat area smashed its previous record on Friday, with temperatures dipping to -13.4°C. The last record was -8.4°C set in 2007.
Tofino also beat a daily temperature record that stood for 50 years, with the cold dipping down to -2.2°C on Friday, beating the previous record of -1.1°C set in 1971.
MID-ISLAND
Conditions were just as chilly in the Mid-Island on Friday, where four daily weather records were beaten.
In Nanaimo, temperatures reached -14.8°C, surpassing the old daily record of -10.3°C set in 1998.
Further north, Qualicum Beach also set a new daily low, with temperatures dropping to -10.2°C, beating the old record of -9.0°C set in 2017.
The Comox area also broke a temperature record, according to Environment Canada. Temperatures reached -6.9°C on Friday, narrowly surpassing the previous record of -6.7°C set in 1950.
Meanwhile, at Estevan Point on the far west coast of Vancouver Island, temperatures reached a low that hasn’t been seen for more than 100 years.
Temperatures dipped to -6.7°C, according to Environment Canada, tying with the record of -6.7°C set in 1909.
Adam Chan
