Alberniweather and Port Alberni Summary for April 2023
Story of the Month – Very Rainy!
We had a quite a cool and rainy April compared to the most recent months in the records. We even managed to set new all time records for rainfall in a day on both the 6th and the 9th. We received nearly twice as much rain as normal in the City and a little less, relatively, at the Airport.
It was also a cool month with average temperatures about a degree below normal. However, some of this was our own perception more than true to the historical temperatures. The maximum daily temperatures were low for most of the month but the minimum temperatures were still more than 1ºC above normal for the month of April compared to the 1971-2000 climate period from the Robertson Creek and Port Alberni “A” Somass stations.
I believe La Niña’s influence was still relatively strong this month and that is what contributed to our rainy and cool feeling month. We don’t tend to see a lot of difference in the late-spring to early summer when it comes to La Niña vs. El Niño and that appears to be holding true as we dive into an abnormal hot period between Mother’s Day and the May Long Weekend.
Nuu-cha-nulth Translations and Updated Looks
You will probably notice on the front page that there are now two forecasts for Inland Vancouver Island, one standard one straight from Environment Canada, and another with a few Nuu-cha-nulth words substituted in for common weather words. Some of the words I’ve currently translated using dictionaries available online and help from wonderful Nuu-cha-nulth friends are:
- cloudy or cloudy periods: łiw̓aḥakma -> “It is cloudy”
- showers: m̓iƛm̓iƛš -> “It is raining off and on”
- fog: ɂučqakma -> “It is foggy”
- sunny: ɂuuɂuqukma -> “It is nice weather”
- forecast: ɂaaqinḥa n̓aasɂii -> “What is the day doing?”
If you have any suggestions, see any errors or would like to contribute to more translations of the Environment Canada forecasts, please do get in touch!
You may also see some minor changes in how the website looks. I’m not going to make any major changes but there are some parts that are in need of work. If you ever have any suggestions or see something that isn’t working right on your device, please let me know.
Day Records Set this Month
Set at Airport* since 1994 and compared to Valley stations** for all time.
(since 1895 for rain, 1900 for temperatures, 1980 for snow on ground)
It was a cool and rainy month and this was punctuated by two new all time records for rainfall were set at the Airport for the days of April 6 and April 9. These were also more than what Robertson Creek observed on the same day. There was also one high temperature record set at the Airport but it was not near an all-time mark.
- April 6 – Rain 46.6 mm – New All Time Record! Previous Record was 36.6 mm
- April 9 – Rain 44.0 mm – New All Time Record! Previous Record was 38.6 mm
- April 28 – High Temp 25.6º C – Record is 31.7º C at Beaver Creek in 1926
This Month’s Graphs from Historic Alberni Valley Weather Stations
Combining Environment Canada and other Personal Weather Stations
Latest values on the far right, click to enlarge/download.
City Values Compared to Normal
Please shift your phone to landscape/horizontal to see the table.
| Extreme (ºC) | Average (ºC) | Wind (kph) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Max | Min | Min | Mean | Max | Rain (mm) | Dir | Speed | Day |
| Alberniweather | 24.5 | 0.8 | 4.0 | 7.7 | 12.3 | 188.2 | SE | 51.5 | 9 |
| Alberni Schl | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Maquinna Schl | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Dave’s (Uptown) | 26.8 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 7.7 | 12.8 | 247.1 | NA | 20.9 | 11 |
| Nick’s (South Port) | 22.9 | 0.7 | 3.9 | 7.3 | 11.7 | 166.2 | NA | 16.1 | 9 |
| Kitsuksis (North Port) | 26.8 | 0.4 | 3.5 | 7.4 | 12.6 | 195.33 | NA | 30.1 | 9 |
| Combined City | 26.8 | 0.4 | 3.9 | 7.5 | 12.4 | 199.2 | |||
| April Normal (Somass) 1971-2000 |
2.7 | 8.4 | 14.0 | 108.4 | |||||
| Difference from Normal | +1.2 | -0.9 | -1.6 | +90.8 (183%) |
|||||
|
April Daily Extremes |
27.5 | -6.1 | 56.2 | 50 | |||||
| Max | Min | Min | Mean | Max | Rain (mm) | Dir | Speed | Day | |
| Extreme (ºC) | Average (ºC) | Wind (kph) | |||||||
| Days of Rain | >=0.2 mm | >=5 mm | >=10 mm | >=25 mm | |||||
| Normal | 16.6 | 6.5 | 3.7 | 0.67 | |||||
| April 2023 at Alberniweather | 19 | 6 | 6 | 2 | |||||
Airport Values Compared to Normal
Please shift your phone to landscape/horizontal to see the table.
| Extreme (ºC) | Average (ºC) | Wind (kph) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Max | Min | Min | Mean | Max | Rain (mm) | Dir | Speed | Day |
| 24.5 | 0.8 | 4.0 | 7.7 | 12.3 | 188.2 | SE | 51.5 | 9 | |
| April Normal (Robertson Creek) 1971-2000 |
2.2 | 8.2 | 14.1 | 123.7 | |||||
| Difference from Normal | +1.8 | -0.5 | -1.8 | +64.5 (152%) |
|||||
|
April Daily Extremes |
29.5 | -6.1 | 63.5 | NA | |||||
| Max | Min | Min | Mean | Max | Rain (mm) | Dir | Speed | Day | |
| Extreme (ºC) | Average (ºC) | Wind (kph) | |||||||
| Days of Precipitation | >=0.2 mm | >=5 mm | >=10 mm | >=25 mm | |||||
| Normal | 15.9 | 7.0 | 4.2 | 1.1 | |||||
| April 2023 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 2 | |||||
* May have used backup Environment Canada Data source at WeatherStats.ca for Missing Data
** Short Term means since 1994 at the new AVRA Airport. Airport Records are compared to the 30+ year weather stations of record since 1900 (1895 for rain) at Beaver Creek, Port Alberni “City” and Robertson Creek. Note that records pre 1950 may be more likely to over-estimate high temperatures.
About The Author
