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Weather records a hot topic for Whistler and corridor

Fires are now banned in Coast Zone
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Whistler, Squamish and Pemberton burned up their previous temperature records over the Canada Day long weekend.

On July 1, Whistler reached 34.5-degrees Celsius, beating the 1995 record of 31C. Squamish reached 32.1C, beating the record of 28.5C set in 1995. Pemberton tied the record set in 2008 with 36.5C.

Meteorologist David Jones of Environment Canada said it was unfortunate that weather stories were immediately considered climate change stories, and said it did no justice to the issue of climate change in the first place and could be a "tiresome link" to forecasters.

"Let's put it into perspective. When you hear about broken records you should ask 'is it a record for the day, for the month or was that a record for the year?' A record for the day gets the media and the public's attention, a record for the month gets a meteorologist's attention, and a record for the year gets a climatologist's attention," Jones said.

"We happened to break records for Whistler, Pemberton and Squamish on Monday, and this means it will go into the record books as the hottest July 1 in these three places, though Pemberton was a tie."

This was the second high temperature record for the corridor in two months, with record highs also reported throughout the corridor in early May. Just as locals have taken to calling cold June months "Junuary," the May heatwave was dubbed "Maugust" by some.

Meanwhile, the heat and dry weather has led to a fire ban in Whistler from Tuesday, July 2.

The fire danger rating is rated "High."This means that barbecues are allowed as long as they are used and extinguished in a safe way.

Readers with questions can call Whistler Fire Rescue Service at 604-935-8260.