Alberniweather and Port Alberni Summary for July 2023
Story of the Month – Continuing the Drought
The drought that started in May continued this month and with it warmer than normal temperatures though not as extreme as May and June. We set only a few records at the Airport at the start of the month. The only day of significant rain, July 24th, set a record for that day at the Airport but on the whole the month recorded just 20% of the normal rainfall for the month.
July stands out as one of the months with the clearest changes in our climate. As you’ll see in the graphs below, rainfall totals have declined generally since the 1930s and have taken a new step downward since around 2010.
While there is not a clear pattern in maximum temperatures, the minimum temperatures, both the extremes and averages, have steadily raised the floor of July temperatures. This will contribute to the drought, fire and animal and human stress.
One note on the data from today. The Robertson Creek station only reported data for half of the month so the values in the graphs (in orange) will not be accurate. I am hopeful that at some point they will update and fill in the data.
While this was not the hottest July on record in Port Alberni, it was the hottest on record for the globe with an average global temperature of 16.85ºC.This is around 1ºC higher than the normal.
Our average official temperatures in Port Alberni at the Airport were 1.2ºC above normal. So we contributed to making that global average higher.
We can expect the heat and dry to continue through August.
Check out all the stats and graphs below.
Airport Daily 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)
We set a few heat records early in the month as the June heatwave stretched into July. Our first significant rainfall since May and set a new daily record at the Airport for rain measured.
Note: Updated September 5. The data from Robertson Creek did not fill in until later in the month. A new all time record was set for rainfall on July 24.
- July 4 – High Temp 32.8ºC – All Time is 35.0ºC in 1926 at Beaver Creek and 1975 at Robertson Creek.
- July 5 – High Temp 34.5ºC – All Time is 35.6ºC in 1975 at Robertson Creek.
- July 6 – High Temp 33.8ºC – All Time is 36.1ºC in 1945 at City Port Alberni.
(Robertson Creek also set a new high of 35.5ºC) - July 24 – High Rainfall 9.6mm – New All Time Record of 12.2 mm set at Robertson Creek. Previous record is 11.9 mm in 1912 at Beaver Creek.
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) | (mm) | Wind (kph) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Max | Min | Min | Mean | Max | Rain | Dir | Speed | Day |
| Alberniweather | 34.3 | 10.8 | 13.3 | 19.8 | 27.2 | 7.4 | SSE | 53.1 | 10 |
| Alberni Elem | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Maquinna Elem | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Dave’s (Uptown) | 36.0 | 10.6 | 13.2 | 20.1 | 28.2 | 9.4 | NA | 20.9 | 20 |
| Nick’s (South Port) | 33.3 | 10.2 | 13.0 | 19.5 | 26.8 | 5.6 | NA | 12.9 | 29 |
| Kitsuksis (North Port) | 35.3 | 9.1 | 12.2 | 19.2 | 27.3 | 13.2 | NA | 25.4 | 20 |
| Extreme (ºC) | Average (ºC) | Average (mm) | Ext. Wind (kph) | ||||||
| Max | Min | Min | Mean | Max | Rain | Dir | Speed | Day | |
| Combined City | 36.0 | 9.1 | 12.9 | 19.7 | 27.4 | 8.9 | SE | 53.1 | 10 |
| July Normal (Somass) 1971-2000 |
10.3 | 17.3 | 24.2 | 27.1 | |||||
| Difference from Normal | +2.6 | +2.4 | +3.2 | -18.2 (33%) |
|||||
|
Extreme Day |
36.1 | 2.2 | 37.3 | 48 | |||||
| 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 | 7.0 | 1.8 | 0.54 | 0.13 | |||||
| This Month (Alberniweather) |
2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Official Airport and Robertson Creek Environment Canada Stations Compared to Normal
Please shift your phone to landscape/horizontal to see the table.
| Extreme (ºC) | Average (ºC) | (mm) | Wind (kph) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Max | Min | Min | Mean | Max | Precip | Dir | Speed | Day |
| 34.5 | 6.5 | 10.3 | 19.1 | 27.8 | 11.8 | SE | 38 | 01 | |
| 35.5 | 7.0 | 10.6 | 19.8 | 28.8 | 13 | NA | |||
| July Normal (Robertson Creek) 1971-2000 |
10.4 | 17.9 | 25.4 | 59.6 | |||||
| Difference from Normal (from Airport) |
-0.1 | +1.2 | +2.4 | -47.8 (19.8%) |
|||||
|
Extreme Day |
39.4 | 3.3 | 33.3 | NA | |||||
| Max | Min | Min | Mean | Max | Rain (mm) | Dir | Speed | Day | |
| *New Extreme for Month | |||||||||
| Days of Precipitation | >=0.2 mm | >=5 mm | >=10 mm | >=25 mm | |||||
| Normal | 8.2 | 2.0 | 0.90 | 0.21 | |||||
| This Month (Airport) |
2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
* 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.
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