Environment Canada: August was warmer, drier than normal for many B.C. regions

If you thought August was a hot month — hot as in warmer than normal — you were right.

This week, Environment Canada released its monthly statistics for cities around the province, along with data for the past three months, and the numbers revealed warmer-than-normal weather.

For example, in Vancouver, the monthly average for August was 18.7 Celsius, up 0.7 from the city’s average of 18.0 C.

In the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford rose 1.1 C, to 19.3 from 18.2.

In the Okanagan, Kelowna, the average also rose 0.7 C, to 19.8 from 19.1, while Vernon rose 2.1, to 20.9 from 18.8. Penticton was up 0.5 at 20.9 from 20.4.

“For the whole Okanagan, it was a warmer and drier August,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Doug Lundquist, adding summer in the Southern Interior was average-to-warmer temperature-wise and average-to-drier rain-wise.

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Of the 17 places listed by Environment Canada, 12 had warmer-than-normal temperatures for August. Three had colder-than-normal temperatures (Prince George, Fort St. John and Fort Nelson) while Quesnel had normal temperatures. The information for Williams Lake was incomplete.

Regarding precipitation levels for August, the numbers were jumbled. Some regions were wetter than normal, others drier and some normal.

Vancouver received 70.2 per cent of its normal rainfall, and was considered normal, along with Nanaimo (70.7 per cent) and Comox (94.5 per cent). Notably, Victoria was considered normal at 50.4 per cent, though another Victoria station recorded 102.5 per cent precipitation levels.

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Elsewhere, Kelowna (45.5 per cent) and Vernon (45.6 per cent) were considered drier, as was Cranbrook (50.7 per cent).

Having a wetter August were Prince George (128.7 per cent), Terrace (120.2 per cent) and Fort St. John (181.6 per cent).

Broken down, nine cities had normal rainfall levels, with three being wetter and five being drier.

But when combining June, July and August, those numbers changed to six cities with normal rainfall levels, with four being wetter and seven being drier.

For June, July and August, only four cities had normal temperatures, with nine cities recording warmer-than-normal temperatures and three places recording colder-than-normal temperatures. (Williams Lake had incomplete data).

For the Okanagan, Lundquist said rain “came spaced at exactly the right time, just so that we had rainfall when we needed it to keep things down for the fire weather forecasters. But there was no extreme rainfall to cause any real flooding situations.

Average temperatures for August 2019

(compared to normal monthly temperature)

• Vancouver: 18.7 C (up 0.7 C from 18.0 C)
• Victoria: 17.5 C (up 0.7 C from 16.8 C)
• Nanaimo: 19.2 C (up 1.0 C from 18.2 C)
• Comox: 18.9 C (up 1.0 C from 17.9 C)
• Abbotsford: 19.3 C (up 1.1 C from 18.2 C)
• Kamloops: 21.7 C (up 0.8 C from 20.9 C)
• Vernon: 20.9 C (up 2.1 C from 18.8 C)
• Kelowna: 19.8 C (up 0.7 C from 19.1 C)
• Penticton: 20.9 C (up 0.5 C from 20.4 C)
• Cranbrook: 18.9 C (up 0.7 C from 18.2 C)
• Williams Lake: 15.3 C (incomplete data)
• Quesnel: 16.3 C (down 0.1 from 16.4 C)
• Prince George: 14.3 C (down 0.7 C from 15.0 C)
• Terrace: 16.9 C (up 0.6 C from 16.3 C)
• Smithers: 15.3 C (up 0.7 C from 14.6 C)
• Fort St. John: 13.3 C (down 1.6 C from 14.9 C)
• Fort Nelson: 13.1 C (down 2.0 C from 15.1 C)

Average rainfall for August 2019

(compared to normal monthly rainfall)

• Vancouver: 25.8 mm (70.2 per cent of 36.7 mm)
• Victoria: 12.0 mm (50.4 per cent of 23.8 mm)
• Nanaimo: 20.1 mm (70.7 per cent of 28.4 mm)
• Comox: 27.6 mm (94.5 per cent of 29.2 mm)
• Abbotsford: 20.5 mm (44.7 per cent of 45.9 mm)
• Kamloops: 14.2 mm (60.0 per cent of 23.7 mm)
• Vernon: 19.3 mm (45.6 per cent of 42.3 mm)
• Kelowna: 14.6 mm (45.5 per cent of 32.1 mm)
• Penticton: 21.0 mm (74.2 per cent of 28.3 mm)
• Cranbrook: 14.2 mm (50.7 per cent of 28.0 mm)
• Williams Lake: 33.3 mm (72.2 per cent of 46.1 mm)
• Quesnel: 37.2 mm (80.5 per cent of 46.2 mm)
• Prince George: 66.3 mm (128.7 per cent of 51.5 mm)
• Terrace: 73.5 mm (120.2 per cent of 61.2 mm)
• Smithers: 20.4 mm (46.5 per cent of 43.8 mm)
• Fort St. John: 93.0 mm (181.6 per cent of 51.2 mm)
• Fort Nelson: 57.1 mm (80.1 per cent of 71.3 mm)

Average temperatures for Summer (June, July and August) 2019

(compared to normal monthly temperature)

• Vancouver: 17.9 C (up 0.7 C from 17.2 C)
• Victoria: 17.0 C (up 0.8 C from 16.2 C)
• Nanaimo: 17.9 C (up 0.6 C from 17.3 C)
• Comox: 18.1 C (up 1.0 C from 17.1 C)
• Abbotsford: 18.1 C (up 0.8 C from 17.3 C)
• Kamloops: 20.4 C (up 0.1 C from 20.3 C)
• Vernon: 19.6 C (up 0.9 C from 18.7 C)
• Kelowna: 19.7 C (up 1.1 C from 18.6 C)
• Penticton: 19.8 C (up 0.1 C from 19.7 C)
• Cranbrook: 17.2 C (down 0.1 C from 17.3 C)
• Williams Lake: (incomplete data)
• Quesnel: 15.9 C (no change from 15.9 C)
• Prince George: 14.2 C (down 0.6 C from 14.8 C)
• Terrace: 16.5 C (up 0.8 C from 15.7 C)
• Smithers: 14.8 C (up 0.5 C from 14.3 C)
• Fort St. John: 14.3 C (down 0.8 C from 15.1 C)
• Fort Nelson: 14.7 C (down 1.0 C from 15.7 C)

Average rainfall for Summer (June, July, August) 2019

(compared to normal monthly rainfall)

• Vancouver: 82.8 mm (65.7 per cent of 126.1 mm)
• Victoria: 72.1 mm (99.8 per cent of 72.3 mm)
• Nanaimo: 69.2 mm (71.2 per cent of 97.2 mm)
• Comox: 87.4 mm (88.6 per cent of 98.6 mm)
• Abbotsford: 98.7 mm (59.0 per cent of 167.2 mm)
• Kamloops: 71.4 mm (76.8 per cent of 93.0 mm)
• Vernon: 111.3 mm (84.2 per cent of 132.1 mm)
• Kelowna: 84.1 mm (76.6 per cent of 109.7 mm)
• Penticton: 70.6 mm (67.8 per cent of 104.1 mm)
• Cranbrook: 133.3 mm (103.8 per cent of 128.5 mm)
• Williams Lake: 182.4 mm (116.0 per cent of 157.3 mm)
• Quesnel: 150.0 mm (88.1 per cent of 170.2 mm)
• Prince George: 182.6 mm (103.3 per cent of 176.7 mm)
• Terrace: 206.3 mm (125.0 per cent of 165.0 mm)
• Smithers: 105.2 mm (72.8 per cent of 144.6 mm)
• Fort St. John: 223.5 mm (116.3 per cent of 192.1 mm)
• Fort Nelson: 281.5 mm (133.3 per cent of 211.1 mm)