Esquimalt Harbour marked the hot spot in both the province and country to kick off Wednesday (March 26) with a balmy temperature of 11 C as of 6 a.m.

Fort Nelson and Burns Lake airports came in coldest in the province for the morning, at -5.4 C, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada, which posts the hot and cold spots hourly on its weather forecast map.

The coldest in the country hit Eureka, Nunavut with a low of -35.6.

The local hot spot comes one day after some Greater Victoria residents broke out the shorts and T-shirts Tuesday as a warm air mass made its way across the province, with five communities breaking daily record temperatures.

The lone Island record broken was at the Victoria International Airport in North Saanich, where a recorded temperature of 16.3 C broke the 1992 record of 15.8. Records in that area have been kept since 1914.

As the warm air gives way to colder Wednesday, Greater Victoria and beyond could see thunderstorms and heavy downpours paired with wind gusts up to 70 km/h.

The threat of thunderstorms will increase in the afternoon, then after a brief break, a cold front will bring a widespread risk of heavy rain and thunderstorms to the south coast. Hail in varying degrees could fall.

A weather alert from Environment Canada covers Greater Victoria, Malahat, Southern Gulf Islands and across the strait to Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

The agency reminds drivers these kinds of storms can cause dangers such as water pooling on roads and sudden reduction in visibility.

Meteorologists figure residents can expect rain with highs of 11 or 12 C during the day, dipping slightly overnight to 7 or 8 C now through Sunday (March 30), when the sun may peek out for a time again.

Other March 25 daily records broken in B.C. include White Rock (recorded at White Rock Campbell Scientific) hitting a high of 19.3 C. breaking the 17.2 record set in 1940; Sechelt and Gibsons (recorded at Sechelt Auto) reached 16.4, above the 2012 record of 15.4; and Smithers hit 12.9 C, just barely breaking the 2019 record of 12.8.