The Alberniweather and Alberni Valley Climate Summary for December 2019
In the November summary I said that if the year had ended November 30, it would be one of the driest years ever but we had one month to go.
Well, the end of December has come, and unfortunately it was another below average month for rain. Even though the Airport set a new one-day record since 1994 on December 18 for rainfall of 51.4mm (well short of the all-time record of 91mm in 1972), those few days of heavy rain didn’t bring much respite.
December ended with just 80% of the normal amount of rain falling at the Airport.
It was also quite a warm month. It was on average 1.6º C warmer than normal at the Airport this December thanks to high temperatures that were 1.6º C above normal.
The Airport station also set a record on the very last day of the year for high temperature, 10.5ºC. This is the highest recorded since 1994. The highest temperature ever recorded in the Valley on New Year’s Eve day was 13.3ºC in 1917 at Port Alberni City Hall.
We also saw no snow in the Alberni Valley this December. We haven’t seen any yet this year. This will be the second year in a row that no measurable snow fell in the Alberni Valley in December.
I’ll be working on the annual summary over the coming days, but I think we know what it’s going to say. See more below on how December stacked up.
Daily and All Time Records Set
Set at the Airport* since 1994 and compared to other stations** for “All Time” since 1900.
One daily high temperature and one high rainfall records were set at the Airport. Neither record beat the all time high for stations in the valley.
- Dec 18 high rain 51.4 mm: #1 is 91.7 mm at Port Alberni in 1972.
- Dec 31 high temp 10.5º C: #1 is 13.3º C at Port Alberni in 1917.
December 2019 City Station Data Comparisons
Mean Min, Mean, and Mean Max Temperature,
Total Precipitation and Highest Wind
- Alberniweather: 2.8º C, 4.3º C, 6.0º C, NA*** mm , S 49.9 kph on 31st
- Alberni Elem. : 2.7º C, 4.4º C, 6.2º C, 226.3 mm, S 29 kph on 31st
- Maquinna Elem.: NA****
- Nick’s (Maq area): 2.6º C, 4.0º C, 5.4º C, 177.6 mm, 31.4 kph on 31st
***Alberniweather rain gauge faulty. ****Maquinna station offline. *****Nick’s data currently unavailable (not Nicks fault :)).
Overall City Averages compared to Station of Record Averages and Normals
- City Average: 2.7º C, 4.2º C, 5.9º C, 226.3 mm
- Airport* : 1.4º C, 3.4º C, 5.4° C, 277.0 mm, None
- Normal 1981-2010 (Rbrstn Creek): -0.3º C, 1.8º C 3.8° C, 344.6 mm
Differences from Normal
- City +3.0° C, +2.4º C, +2.1º C, -118.3 mm, (65.7% of normal)
- Official Airport +1.3° C, +1.6º C, +1.6º C, -106.0 mm (80.4% of normal)
Days of Precipitation*
Normal Days : Days This Month
>= 0.2 mm: 20.5 : 25
>= 5 mm: 13.1 : 13
>= 10 mm: 10 : 8
>= 25 mm: 5.3 : 3
* May have used backup Environment Canada Data source at WeatherStats.ca
**^^ Missing Data from Airport, Alberniweather broke existing Airport record temperature. Temperature at Alberniweather will be different. Usually Alberniweather underestimates temperatures in summer compared to Airport.
** Short Term means since 1995 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.
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