Despite a late surge at the end of the month, temperatures were below normal and rainfall above normal overall for the region during April.
A large portion of the month from April 1-22 was mostly cool with daytime temperatures three to six degrees below normal, according to statistics compiled by Chris Carss at the Chemainus home for Environment and Climate Change Canada.
He added the weather was very changeable during a lot of those days with sunshine, rain and hail, with the latter occurring on the April 2 and 19.
Milder temperatures occurred April 23-26, climbing close to normal values, but the weather was still very changeable, Carss pointed out.
The period from April 27-29 brought “our first taste of summer weather with plenty of sunshine and temperatures suddenly soaring into the low 20s,” he indicated.
“The month ended with a return to more seasonal temperatures and increasing clouds that brought an end to the sunshine around late morning followed in the evening by a dribble of rain.”
Overall, daytime temperatures for the month averaged about two degrees below normal and rainfall was nearly 50 millimetres above normal. “Despite the copious amounts of rain, the number of sunny dry days remained very close to normal,” Carss pointed out.
The breakdown of Carss’ statistics were as follows:
Temperature
Mean maximum 11.7 C, normal 14.0 C.
Mean minimum 4.5 C, normal 5.6 C.
Extreme maximum 23 C on April 29.
Extreme minimum 1.0 C on April 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Precipitation
Days with rain and/or hail 22, normal 14.
Accumulated rainfall (including hail) 121.1 mm, normal 75.4 mm.
Accumulated snowfall 0, normal 0.5 cm.
Sunshine
Days mostly or partly sunny and dry 9, normal 10.
Days with mixed weather (sunshine and precipitation) 10.
Total days mostly or partly sunny (including mixed weather days) 19.
On Thetis Island, Keith Rush recorded 83.7 mm of precipitation during April at his Foster Point Road residence. The normal is just 58.6 mm, but last year’s total people might remember brought a deluge of 130.5 mm so it made the current April not seem so bad.
The year-to-date precipitation on Thetis of 390.8 mm is running below the 471.2 mm to this point as of April 2022.
“May looks like it will be unsettled with a mix of sunshine and rain showers that might be fairly frequent but fairly light,” Carss noted. “Temperatures are expected to be close to normal most of the month, with the second half maybe a little warmer than the first half.”
@chemainusnews
don.bodger@chemainusvalleycourier.ca
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