More Records Smashed… dry weather marches on (though relief may be coming)
Port Alberni has easily smashed its previous records for driest October-January period. Though not historic like December, the month of January has continued the dry trend we have seen throughout this ‘rainy’ season. Officially we received between 30-40% of our normal rainfall and most of that came all in one short storm at the beginning of the month. That was more than dry enough for October to January 2014 to be the driest “monsoon” period on record. Graph below.
Here is how February started in Nanaimo though! Beautiful sunrise over fresh dry snow, but slippery, stay safe out there.
We should stay dry and cold all week until Saturday when things might get interesting. Oh and don’t forget to come out to Char’s Landing, across from City Hall, on Tuesday to hear and see Dr. Andrew Weaver talk global and local climate change.
This graph shows the historic October through January rainy periods. The final purple (Somass) and orange (Robertson Creek) points at bottom right are this years season. We easily smashed the previous low of 442 mm recorded at the Somass station in 1978.
Snowpack still historically low.
The BC River Forecast Centre shows the sorry state of the snowpack at the Jump Creek measuring site south of Mt. Arrowsmith.
The dark blue line hugging zero is this year. The red is the ‘minimum’ recorded in past years. That means we’re in record low snow pack for the South Island. At 114mm and a normal of around 700mm we are about 16% of our normal snowpack. No better than California, which is suffering through its driest winter on record.
Temperatures warm for January.
Temperatures were generally half to a degree above normal for the month of January. This is likely thanks to our warm foggy days that kept us insulated. Compared to recent years, this January has felt warm and dry. Usually we get warm and wet or cold and dry, so just goes to show you never know what what you’re going to get!
Monthly Timelapse: (Coming)
Changes for 2014 and onwards:
We are using only 1981-2010 ‘normals’ and ‘averages’
We are grouping the official “Airport” records with Robertson Creek “normals” and my and other city stations with the old “A” station because of significant differences in values and locations.
Stats and Analysis for the Month of January 2014
Changes for 2014 and onwards:
We are using only 1981-2010 ‘normals’ and ‘averages’
We are grouping the official “Airport” records with Robertson Creek “normals” and my and other city stations with the old “A” station because of significant differences in values and locations.
Average Daily Temperature for January:
City Station Ave. Difference from Somass 1981-2010 normal: 0.55° C
Official (Airport) Difference from Robertson Creek 1981-2010 normal: 1.11° C
Environment Canada Airport: 3.1° C
Alberniweather:3.6° C
Alberni Elementary:3.6° C
Maquinna: 3.2° C
Neptune Canada: 3.7° C
Overall City Average: 3.5° C
1981-2000 Environment Canada Normal (A – Somass): 2.95° C
1981-2010 Environment Canada Normal (Robertson Creek): 1.99° C
Average Minimum Daily Temperature for December:
City Station Ave. Difference from Somass 1981-2010 normal: 1.14° C
Official (Airport) Difference from Robertson Creek 1981-2010 normal: 0.84° C
EC: 0.5° C
Alberniweather: 1.7° C
AES: 1.6° C
MAQ: 1.4° C
NEP: 1.9° C
Overall City Average: 1.65° C
1981-2000 Environment Canada Normal (A – Somass): 0.51° C
1981-2010 Environment Canada Normal (Robertson Creek): -0.34° C
Average Maximum Daily Temperature for December:
City Station Ave. Difference from Somass 1981-2010 normal: +0.79° C
Official (Airport) Difference from Robertson Creek 1981-2010 normal: +1.3° C
EC: 5.6° C
Alberniweather: 6.3° C
AES: 6.3° C
MAQ: 5.8° C
NEP: 6.2° C
Overall City Average: 6.15° C
1981-2000 Environment Canada Normal (A – Somass): 5.36° C
1981-2010 Environment Canada Normal (Robertson Creek): 4.3° C
Average Precipitation for December:
City Station Ave. Difference from Somass 1981-2010 normal: -155.68 mm (44%)
Official (Airport) Difference from Robertson Creek 1981-2010 normal: -217.95 mm (31%)
EC: 99.0 mm
Alberniweather: 116.3 mm
AES: 120.6 mm
MAQ: 123.0 mm
NEP: NA (not measured)
Overall City Average: 120.0 mm
1981-2000 Environment Canada Normal (A – Somass): 275.68 mm
1981-2010 Environment Canada Normal (Robertson Creek): 316.95 mm
Comparison to recent January’s at Alberniweather (only).
2013:
Quite a bit warmer this January, but the same amount, or lack of rain as last January.
2012:
Warmer this year and much drier. 2012 was much closer to normal rain.
2011:
Warmer and a little drier this year.
2010:
January 2010 was warmer than this year, and average rain. 364mm
2009:
Was quite a bit cooler in 2009. But it was also drier. Only 86.9mm that month.
2008:
Cool and wet was January 2008.
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One response to “January 2014 Summary Driest October-January Ever plus warm dry January does nothing for the snowpack”
Just don’t let Harper burn your web site down.