February started out like it might feature a lot of inclement weather in the Chemainus Valley.
But after heavy rains on the morning of Feb. 1 and some snow later, it turned out to be rather meek and mild in comparison to what we’ve come to experience in February.
“February was statistically a rather normal month for this time of year,” noted Chemainus weather observer/recorder Chris Carss. “However, after several years of unusually brutal February weather during the 2010 decade, this year was relatively pleasant after a brief snowstorm near the beginning of the month. Some hope was raised that the 2020s would bring a revival of the milder February weather that had characterized our pre-spring transitional season back in the 1990s and 2000s.”
Carss added the only weather elements that strayed significantly from the historical normals were the snowfall and rainfall.
“Ironically, it was as if winter was determined to keep our second month of the year under its icy grip yet again as we received a wallop of the white stuff right after the end of January,” he indicated. “Technically, that snowstorm dumped twice our normal monthly snowfall in one day, but since it melted very quickly, it had only a short-lived impact on the Chemainus Valley for the most part. After that, the month turned quite springlike with only about two-thirds of our normal rainfall being recorded.
“This pattern continued into early March and is expected to continue for most of the month with normal but gradually warming temperatures and somewhat below normal rainfall as we continue our transition into spring.”
The mean maximum temperature for February was 8.0 Celsius, slightly below the normal of 8.4 C. The mean minimum also came in just under the normal of 2.4 C at 2.2 C.
The extreme maximum of 10.5 C occurred three times on Feb. 14, 15 and 27. The extreme minimum of -0.5 C happened twice on Feb. 2 and 19.
Total rainfall for the month was 71.0 millimetres, well below the normal of 117.3 mm. Total snowfall came in at 15.6 centimetres, almost twice the normal of 8.6 cm.
Total precipitation thus measured 86.6 mm, with the normal being 125.9 mm.
Total days of sunny or partly sunny conditions were right on the normal of nine. Of the 20 mostly cloudy days, 16 had precipitation which was exactly the normal.
On Thetis Island, rainfall measured 74.6 mm in February. Last year’s total in February was 108.9 mm.
The average rainfall total for Thetis in February is 105.2 mm.
Thetis has a year-to-date precipitation total of 454.3 mm. The total is usually at 277.2 mm at this time.