It’s been an arid and record-breaking September for many communities in B.C.
Preliminary data from Environment Canada from Sept. 1 to 27 shows that Victoria plus Abbotsford and Chilliwack had their driest September ever, with those communities receiving less than one per cent of their normal, monthly precipitation.
Victoria received just 0.7 per cent of its total precipitation for September, while Abbotsford / Chiliwack was at 0.8 per cent.
Five other areas – Campbell River (5.4 per cent), Kelowna(8.6 per cent), Smithers (13.0 per cent), Fort Nelson (5.2 per cent), and Victoria’s airport (2.6 per cent) – had their second driest September ever.
In the Lower Mainland, Vancouver had its seventh-driest September with just seven mm of rainfall. That translates into 13.8 per cent of its normal precipitation.
Environment Canada also noted that 81 of the 118 climate stations across the province are classified as ‘way too dry.’
Six weather stations in B.C. — Vancouver, Victoria (city and airport), Comox, Campbell River, Abbotsford and Williams Lake — recorded their hottest September ever.
The mean temperatures for the month were close to three degrees above average in some cases.
The province’s website on drought information shows that five B.C. basins are at Drought Level 4 out of 5. Those basins are Fort Nelson, the Sunshine Coast, the Lower Mainland, west Vancouver Island and east Vancouver Island.
The province says at Drought Level 4, conditions are extremely dry and adverse effects to socio-economic or ecosystem values are likely.”