They weren’t the coldest temperatures Nanaimo has ever experienced, but an Arctic outflow did set cold temperature records on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 12-13.
Anyone who ventured outdoors Friday quickly found their nose and ears stinging after the mercury plummeted to -14.8 Celsius and, not to be outdone, Saturday took it a further notch down to -15.8 C.
According to Armel Castellan, Environment Canada warning preparedness meteorologist, those were the coldest temperatures recorded for those dates since record keeping started in Nanaimo in 1892.
“Those are, obviously, very rare temperatures,” Castellan said. “It broke the previous record from 1988 for [Jan. 12], that was -10.3. It just took [the record] way out, by 4.5 degrees, and then in 1950 on [Jan. 13], folks had -13.9 and so the difference there to -15.8 is almost two full degrees, so it’s a pretty big shift as well.”
While Friday’s and Saturday’s temperatures were the coldest for Jan. 12-13, they weren’t the coldest temperatures Nanaimo has experienced. Saturday’s -15.8 C temperature was the 19th-coldest day recorded since 1892. Castellan said the last time a cold record temperature was set in January in this century was in 2004, when it got down to -13.4 on Jan. 4.
Just last year, on Feb. 24, thermometers plunged to -12.4 C and on Dec. 22, 2022, the day dawned at a chilly -15.6 C.
How cold can it get in the Harbour City?
“I do see a temperature of -18.3 from [January] 1893, so way, way back when temperatures like this were more common,” Castellan said, adding that Nanaimo’s coldest-ever temperature was -20 C set Dec. 30, 1968.
Cold snaps carry consequences for businesses and homeowners when infrastructure, such as heating and water delivery systems, begin to fail. David Dales, Nanaimo Fire Rescue assistant chief, said firefighters responded to numerous calls for burst water pipes in homes and buildings, including in the warming resources centre operated by Island Crisis Care Society on 2025 Bowen Rd. The warming centre had to be relocated to Samaritan Place at 702 Nicol St.
“The weekend was a real mess,” Dales said. “There were tons of pipes burst.”
Meteorlogically speaking, Nanaimo is not out of the woods yet.
“We’ve got a pretty messy meteorological situation coming up here, mid week,” Castellan said. “As early as Tuesday, late evening – certainly overnight into Wednesday – there’s going to be a snow event. It’s trending colder, so it could stay as snow through Wednesday and into Thursday. We’re not sure it’s going to transition into rain, so that something to look out for.”
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