Victoria saw its warmest Jan. 29 ever on Monday, with a balmy 15.3 C recorded at the Gonzales weather station.
The former warmth record for that day was 13.3 C set in 1931.
Stations at the University of Victoria, Victoria harbour and the Hartland area also set warmth records, while the Malahat reached 14.2 C — up two degrees from the previous record of 12.6 C set in 1992.
Temperatures were even higher up-Island.
Duncan hit 16.5 C, up from the previous record of 14.5 C in 1995, while Nanaimo also measured 16.5 C, up from 14.6 C, also in 1995.
The record-warm day in Victoria comes just a few weeks after the Gonzales station registered its coldest Jan. 12 in 55 years, at -11.5 C.
“It just goes to show the weather can change quite dramatically over a short amount of time,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Alyssa Charbonneau.
She said the record cold came from an arctic front, while the higher temperatures stem from a string of atmospheric rivers that have brought not only significant rain but plenty of warm air from the tropics.
Victoria will see mostly showers and highs up to 12 C over the next few days, followed by sun on Friday and through the weekend, with heavy rain in the forecast for much of the rest of the Island.
