Spences Bridge
| Spences Bridge | |
|---|---|
 Spences Bridge
|
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| Coordinates: 50°25′25″N 121°20′42″W / 50.42361°N 121.34500°WCoordinates: 50°25′25″N 121°20′42″W / 50.42361°N 121.34500°W | |
| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  British Columbia |
Spences Bridge is a community in the Canadian province of British Columbia, situated 23 miles north east of Lytton and 32 miles from Ashcroft. In 1892, the population included 32 people of European ancestry and 130 First Nations people. There were 5 general stores, 3 hotels, one Church of England and one school. The principal industries are fruit growing and farming.
History[edit]
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The Kettle Valley Railway included a spur line stretching from Merritt to Spence's Bridge. The rail bed is still intact along with the original bridges.
On January 1st, 2014, the old Spences Bridge, which was a one-lane steel truss bridge was decommissioned and permanently closed to all pedestrian and vehicle traffic after 82 years of service. This was deemed necessary by British Columbia Ministry of Transportation engineers.[1]
Locations[edit]
North of Spences Bridge is Ashcroft (42 km) and Cache Creek (48 km). Also north is 100 Mile House (168 km), Williams Lake (265 km), Quesnel (386 km), and Prince George (503 km). South of Spences Bridge is Lytton (36 km), Hope (147 km), and Vancouver (301 km). And east of the town is Merritt, which is only 65 kilometres east of the town.
Spences Bridge's location is mountainous, with higher elevations part of the Interior Plateau. The west side of the Fraser here is part of the Clear Range, a mountainous southwards extension of the Fraser Plateau located in the angle of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers. Arthur Seat lies in that range on the west side of Spences Bridge, and was named by pioneer John Murray for the similarly-named mountain in Edinburgh, Scotland.[2]
Climate[edit]
Spences Bridge has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk). The climate is very dry and mild by Canadian standards, with an average annual precipitation of just 269.1 mm (10.6 in). Winters are short and moderately cold for usually brief periods and sunshine hours are very low for a couple of months, while summers are quite long, hot, sunny and dry –compared to the rest of Canada, albeit with comfortable nights. Like much of the lower-altitude valleys in the Thompson Nicola region, there are more days (on average approx. 40 days per year) when temperature exceeds 32°C (90°F) than remain below freezing.[3]
| Climate data for Spences Bridge | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 17.0 (62.6) |
17.5 (63.5) |
24.5 (76.1) |
32.0 (89.6) |
38.5 (101.3) |
39.5 (103.1) |
42.5 (108.5) |
40.5 (104.9) |
37.5 (99.5) |
31.0 (87.8) |
21.5 (70.7) |
17.5 (63.5) |
42.5 (108.5) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 0.7 (33.3) |
5.0 (41) |
12.4 (54.3) |
17.8 (64) |
22.3 (72.1) |
25.9 (78.6) |
29.6 (85.3) |
29.7 (85.5) |
24.2 (75.6) |
14.7 (58.5) |
5.9 (42.6) |
0.1 (32.2) |
15.7 (60.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −2.4 (27.7) |
0.8 (33.4) |
6.4 (43.5) |
11.0 (51.8) |
15.4 (59.7) |
19.1 (66.4) |
22.1 (71.8) |
22.1 (71.8) |
17.1 (62.8) |
9.5 (49.1) |
2.4 (36.3) |
−2.8 (27) |
10.1 (50.2) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −5.6 (21.9) |
−3.4 (25.9) |
0.4 (32.7) |
4.2 (39.6) |
8.4 (47.1) |
12.3 (54.1) |
14.6 (58.3) |
14.4 (57.9) |
10.0 (50) |
4.3 (39.7) |
−1.0 (30.2) |
−5.7 (21.7) |
4.4 (39.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −25.5 (−13.9) |
−23.0 (−9.4) |
−14.0 (6.8) |
−5.0 (23) |
−1.0 (30.2) |
4.0 (39.2) |
6.0 (42.8) |
6.0 (42.8) |
0.0 (32) |
−19.5 (−3.1) |
−29.0 (−20.2) |
−28.5 (−19.3) |
−29.0 (−20.2) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 18.8 (0.74) |
12.4 (0.488) |
12.5 (0.492) |
13.8 (0.543) |
25.6 (1.008) |
29.6 (1.165) |
30.0 (1.181) |
22.2 (0.874) |
23.5 (0.925) |
22.1 (0.87) |
26.4 (1.039) |
27.0 (1.063) |
263.7 (10.382) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 10.8 (0.425) |
10.0 (0.394) |
10.3 (0.406) |
13.8 (0.543) |
25.6 (1.008) |
29.6 (1.165) |
30.0 (1.181) |
22.2 (0.874) |
23.5 (0.925) |
21.7 (0.854) |
21.5 (0.846) |
14.5 (0.571) |
233.3 (9.185) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 7.9 (3.11) |
2.4 (0.94) |
2.2 (0.87) |
0.0 (0) |
0.0 (0) |
0.0 (0) |
0.0 (0) |
0.0 (0) |
0.0 (0) |
0.4 (0.16) |
5.0 (1.97) |
12.5 (4.92) |
30.4 (11.97) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 6.7 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 4.6 | 6.9 | 7.6 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 6.0 | 6.9 | 9.5 | 7.4 | 79.0 |
| Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 3.4 | 4.3 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 6.9 | 7.6 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 6.0 | 6.7 | 8.1 | 3.8 | 68.7 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) | 3.6 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 4.1 | 11.7 |
| Source: [4] | |||||||||||||
Pioneers of Spences Bridge[edit]
- John Murray
- Olivier Major
- James Teit (ethnographer)
- Archibald Clemes
- Pierre Morens
- Francoise Rey
See also[edit]
- Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
- Cook's Ferry First Nation
- Cariboo Road
- Cariboo Gold Rush
- Thompson-Nicola Regional District
- Thompson River
- Clear Range
References[edit]
- ^ Bowness, Lisanne. "Aging Old Spences Bridge to be permanently closed". Government of British Columbia. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
- ^ BC Names/GeoBC entry "Arthur Seat (mountain)"
- ^ Environment Canada—Canadian Climate Normals 1971–2000, accessed 23 August2012
- ^ "Calculation Information for 1981 to 2010 Canadian Normals Data". Environment Canada. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
