The Southern Interior flexing its weather muscle.
This mid-spring heatwave, with daily highs around 30°C means Penticton and Kamloops are warmer than traditional hotspots like Honolulu, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Cape Town, Athens, Madrid, Los Angeles, Rome and Sydney.
In fact, today Honolulu and Mexico City had highs of 26°C, Cairo, Athens and Rome all reached 24°C; Madrid and Tel Aviv were at 21°C; Sydney and Los Angeles hit 20°C; and Cape Town was just 18°C.
Those international cities are having normal or below normal temperatures for this time of year.
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Meanwhile, Penticton and Kamloops are hotter than normal for early May.
The Penticton and Kamloops weather details come from Environment Canada.
The international dets come from AccuWeather, which tracks more cities and temperatures around the world.
Generally, the daily high temperature in Penticton and Kamloops this time of year is around 21°C.
However, what has happened in southern BC is a phenomenon called a Rex Block, according to The Weather Network.
It happens when a high-pressure system to the north locks into a low-pressure system from the south, creating persistent, unseasonably warm weather because it blocks the normal east-west progression of weather.
In this case, the high pressure is coming in from the Pacific Ocean over BC and low pressure is coming from California.
Rex Block is so called after American meteorologist Daniel Fox who documented the phenomenon in 1950.
On top of this is the wildcard of climate change.
We never know what we're going to get.
It could be normal weather, warmer than normal or cooler than normal.
Penticton's 29°C and Kamloops' 30°C today is warmer than usual for sure, but not record-breaking hot.
That distinction belongs to May 5, 1992 when the mercury soared to 30.7°C.
But there have been record-breaking temperatures in other BC communities.
Just yesterday, it was 31.5°C in Pemberton, 31.2°C in Lillooet, 30.9 °C in Squamish and 30.6°C in Port Alberni.
On Sunday, it was 31°C in Osoyoos.
Penticton and Kamloops have Rex Block for at least the next week.
Environment Canada forecasts mostly sunny weather for tomorrow and Thursday, with temperatures of 29°C and 27°C, respectively.
There's a cloudy break with a drop to 20°C on Friday, but then it's back to sun and 25°C, 26°C and 25°C on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
