February definitely brought cooler conditions than normal to the Chemainus region.
“February was a cooler month than normal due to a La Nina ocean current that appeared to fade in January, but found new life last month,” according to Chemainus weather observer Chris Carss.
He pointed out temperatures averaged about 1.5 degrees Celsius below normal. That had the affect of producing below normal rainfall, but above normal snowfall.
“The first eight days of the month continued the early spring weather of late January, but after that, conditions slid back into a more winter-like mode that resembled the predominant patterns of last December,” noted Carss.
The mean daily maximum temperature for the month was 6.9 C compared to the normal of 8.4 C. The mean minimum of 1.6 C also slipped below the normal of 2.4 C.
The extreme maximum temperature of 14.0 C occurred early in the month on Feb. 4. The extreme minimum was -4.5 C on Feb. 19.
Days of mostly or partly sunny conditions numbered eight, one below the normal of nine. Of the 20 mostly cloudy days, the number of days with precipitation was right on the normal of 16.
Total rainfall in February was only 68.7 millimetres compared to the normal of 117.3 mm. The snowfall total of 12.4 centimetres was up slightly from the normal of 8.6 cm.
March started with a continuation of February’s unsettled weather and unseasonably cool temperatures that are expected to predominate until at least the middle of the month.
“A return to more normal temperatures is not expected until the last week of March,” Carss indicated. “The La Nina ocean current is expected to weaken once again around that time and gradually disappear altogether as we move from pre-spring into full spring.”