After a winter that saw below-normal temperatures and snowfall accumulations that shattered records, the weather is about to swing into spring in a big way.
Environment Canada is forecasting that Victoria will finally reach double digits on Friday at 10 degrees Celsius.
Temperatures will continue to climb over the weekend, hitting 14 degrees Sunday and rising to 17 degrees on Monday.
Environment Canada Meteorologist Armel Castellan said even if that forecast changes, it will still feel much hotter than normal due to the long stretch of colder than normal weather in B.C.
"Now we're going to go the other way. We're going to go about seven, eight degrees above normal, so that big change is going to physiologically feel fantastic," he said.
Castellan said daily records could even be broken in some cities where temperatures will hover around 17 or 18 degrees.
It'll be similar weather up-island in Nanaimo, which is forecast to hit 16 degrees Monday, and on the west coast of Vancouver Island in Tofino, which will also reach 17 degrees with a mix of sun and cloud.
"Just now, this past hour we've seen a whole bunch of locations, Nanaimo, who are just cresting over 10 degrees for the first time since mid-January," he said.
Castellan also warned anyone thinking of heading to the beach or hitting the slopes for a sunny ski day to be vigilant when it comes to sunscreen, as the UV index will go from low to moderate for the first time in months.
"If you're going up to Mount Washington for some spring skiing, it's not only the strength of the sun from above but from below, creating a double whammy," he said.
It follows a stretch of what Environment Castellan called "freakishly frigid" weather on B.C.'s South Coast.
The cold spell plunged temperatures to four or five degrees below normal for most of February and early March, with two weather stations in Victoria recording their second-coldest February ever.
