April proved to be exceptionally cool and wet for southeast Vancouver Island, with temperatures about two degrees Celsius below normal and precipitation more than double what’s typical.
Chris Carss, who compiles weather data for Environment and Climate Change Canada at his Chemainus home on a volunteer basis, reported the days with precipitation were about 50 percent above normal. That included a dash of snow on April 10 and a shot of hail on the 19th.
Despite all the wet weather, the daily sunshine was only slightly below normal due to relatively frequent but short breaks between weather disturbances.
Carss noted the poor weather was caused by a revived La Nina ocean current and an atmospheric river seemingly flowing north from Hawaii, but actually originating in chilly Siberia, diving south across Japan, and then east across the Pacific Ocean and north to Vancouver Island.
“The weather was a complete reversal of April of last year when the temperatures averaged nearly two degrees Celsius above normal and rainfall – with none of that ridiculous frozen stuff – was less than half the normal amount,” he added.
Following is the statistical breakdown for April:
Temperature
- Mean maximum 11.8 C, normal 14.0 C.
- Mean minimum 3.9 C, normal 5.6 C.
- Extreme maximum 18 C on April 24.
- Extreme minimum 1.5 C on April 6, 10, 15, 16 and 17.
Sunshine
- Days mostly or partly sunny and dry 8, normal 10.
- Days with mixed weather (sunshine and precipitation) 12.
- Total days mostly or partly sunny (including mixed weather days) 22.
Precipitation
- Total days with precipitation (including mixed weather days) 21, normal 14.
- Rainfall 167.4 mm, normal 74.9 mm.
- Snowfall 1.2 cm, normal 0.5 cm.
- Total combined precipitation 168.6, normal 75.4 mm.
On Thetis Island, precipitation was also way above last year. Keith Rush recorded 130.5 mm of rain in April at his Foster Point Road residence, compared to just 21.1 mm during April of 2021.
Rush noted that shatters the record for April from 2018 of 106.9 mm. The average April on Thetis yields just 56.9 mm.
May started dry on the very first day and then rain returned that Carss indicated in his outlook is expected to predominate for the rest of the month just like April.
The temperatures are expected to remain about two degrees Celsius below normal, also repeating the April trend.
The upside of all this, Carss emphasized, is no heat domes this year.
@chemainusnews
don.bodger@chemainusvalleycourier.ca
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