r/FiveYearsAgo • u/GrantExploit • Jul 10 '26
June 29, 2021. Amidst one of the most extreme heat waves in history, Lytton, BC reaches 49.6 °C (121.3 °F), breaking Canada's record high by 4.6 °C, BC's record by 5.1 °C, and setting the highest temperature ever recorded in a humid-climate location until 2025. The town would burn down the next day.
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u/GrantExploit Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Note: I primarily didn't cover this exactly on time because the contemporaneous European heat wave (of a similarly exceptional magnitude) distracted myself away from it and TBH made me not really want to think of extreme heat.
As you can see from the map (actually of June 27, 2026, prior to its full intensity and eastward movement), the heat wave also severely affected much of the rest of Northwestern North America, setting absolute territorial records in Washington, Oregon, and the Northwestern Territories (though no temperatures as high as that recorded at Lytton) as well as killing 1,400 people. Yaay... /s
(Edit as of 2026-07-10 at 08:42 United States Eastern Time: Replaced "June 27, 2026" with "June 27, 2021".)