Unseasonable warmth brings heavy rain, breaks temperature records across southwestern B.C.

Unseasonable warmth brought by an atmospheric river has shattered records — some almost a century old — at more than 30 B.C. locations, with temperatures passing 18 C in the Lower Mainland.

Environment Canada says the daily high temperature at Vancouver's airport hit 14.3 C on Monday, breaking the previous record of 13.3 C set in 1940.

Records were also broken at multiple weather stations in Greater Victoria, where temperatures reached 15.3 C, surpassing a 1931 mark by 2 C.

Temperatures hit a national high of 18.2 C in Abbotsford and 17.3 C in West Vancouver, both about 3 C beyond previous daily records.

State of local emergency in Pemberton

Meanwhile, flood and avalanche risks remain elevated across southwestern B.C., where Avalanche Canada says heavy rains have weakened the snowpack.

B.C.'s River Forecast Centre has expanded a flood warning to include the Lillooet River, saying flows at a gauge near Pemberton, B.C., were at levels seen once in five to 10 years.

By Tuesday afternoon, the Village of Pemberton had declared a local state of emergency and issued an evacuation order for six properties along Airport Road.

A flood warning remains in effect for the Squamish River, where an updated bulletin says flows had exceeded once-in-five-year levels at a gauge near Brackendale, north of downtown Squamish.

The warning also covers tributaries, including the Cheakamus River, which the bulletin says was "expected to exceed bank-full flow."

Lower-level flood watches are in effect across southwestern B.C., including all of Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, the North Shore mountains and parts of the Fraser Valley including the Sumas River.

The forecast centre says a series of "potent" storms had delivered between 80 and 300 millimetres of rain throughout the region since Friday, with the next round expected to start Tuesday night and stretch into Wednesday.

The risk of flooding is expected to persist into Thursday as another atmospheric river brings further rain and snowmelt, it says.

Avalanche risk high

The latest Avalanche Canada forecast shows the danger rating remains "high" throughout the south Chilcotin and Pacific mountain ranges, including alpine areas around Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton and Garibaldi Provincial Park.

The avalanche risk is also ranked as high in northwestern B.C., including mountains surrounding the communities of Prince Rupert, Terrace and Kitimat.

A bulletin from the forecaster said heavy rains have saturated and weakened the upper snowpack, and conditions in the alpine weren't expected to improve Tuesday.

Wind knocks out power in northern B.C.

Meanwhile, in the north, more than 6,000 customers were left without power in Prince George early Tuesday, with several smaller outages in Dawson Creek, Chetwynd and Mackenzie.

B.C. Hydro spokesperson Mike Kellett says the majority of the outages are due to downed trees and power poles after high winds overnight.

Environment Canada reported gusts of nearly 60 km/h through the region at around 2 a.m. PT.

Around 1,500 customers in Prince George were still without power around 12:30 p.m. PT.