Before the chillier weather settled in, there was a brief hiccup of heat to open December.
Environment and Climate Change Canada indicates Agassiz hit a record temperature on Dec. 1, reaching a balmy 14.1 C, which broke the previous 2013 record of 12.2 C. The uncharacteristically warm weather came shortly after the last of three atmospheric rivers that plagued the Fraser Valley with torrential rain, triggering catastrophic landslides and flooding throughout the area.
More than 400 millimetres of rain fell in Agassiz-Harrison during the atmospheric rivers between last week and the previous week.
RELATED: It’s too darn hot: All-time Agassiz temperature records shattered twice in severe heat wave
Agassiz experienced notable record highs this summer as well with high temperatures frequently approaching and breaking records in July and August. During a particularly sweltering heatwave in late June, temperatures topped at 41.1 C, breaking an all-time record for Agassiz, which has kept weather records since 1889. The previous record for that day was set in 1895 at 33.3 C. That all-time record marked the second time in a single week that temperature records were broken.
A few weeks after a 48-day dry streak later in the summer during which no precipitation fell, Agassiz was recorded not only as the hottest place in British Columbia but in Canada. On Aug. 12 at about 11 p.m., temperatures still hovered around 30 C. Earlier that same afternoon, the high temperature of 38.2 C broke a 34.6 C record, which was set in 1990.
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