Canada's hot and cold spot just 300 km apart on Thursday
Continental Arctic air and warmer Pacific air made for a study in contrasts Thursday.
Normally, ridges and troughs deliver varying degrees of temperature contrasts across Canada. Right now, a gargantuan trough is sitting over the continent, and it created an interesting juxtaposition with the national hot and cold spots Thursday.
It's mind-blowing to think that, for a brief period of time on Thursday morning, Canada's hot and cold spots claimed those titles while sitting just over 300 kilometres away from each other.
Cold Spot: Mt. Puntzi (Frigid continental Arctic air)
First the chill. Mt. Puntzi, in the Cariboo region of British Columbia, plunged down to -45°C breaking an all-time February temperature record for the region.
Why? It's built for the cold. The location is shaped like a saucer, situated directly in a concave valley; the dense Arctic air can envelop the air surrounding the weather station.
Hot Spot: Solander Island (Pacific air)
Close your eyes and picture an island off Vancouver Island. Instead, here's reality:
It's essentially a giant rock in the Pacific – known to capture ferocious fall storms, with wind gusts over 200 km/h. Now you know why, as the very weather station is located dozens of metres above sea level – perfectly perched to capture the strong barrier jet winds that develop upstream of Vancouver Island.
The arctic front was still northeast of the Island early Thursday – making it one of the only stations in Canada above the freezing mark.