Frequent sunshine characterized much of November in the Chemainus Valley, resulting in a subsequent dramatic decrease in rainfall.
November 2019 had a total rainfall of just 79.1 millimetres, far below the normal of 209.4 mm. There was also a trace of snowfall during the month when 7.8 centimetres is the norm.
Days of sunny or partly sunny conditions doubled from the normal of seven to 14. Of the 16 mostly cloudy days, 13 had precipitation. That’s six less than the normal of 19 days with precipitation.
“The dry spell that started in late October continued into the first seven days of November,” noted Chris Carss, a volunteer weather observer/recorder for Environment Canada. “From then on, some occasional periods of rain returned but with below normal frequency and amounts, and twice our normal sunshine on the dry days.”
Temperatures were a little above normal for most of the month, he added, and then returned to seasonal normals during the last seven days, which resulted in the first but a very short-lived dusting of snow in the transition toward winter.
The mean maximum temperature for November was 9.9 Celsius. The normal is 9.1 C.
The mean minimum of 4.8 C was more than half a degree above the normal of 4.2 C. The extreme maximum temperature of 15.5 C occurred on Nov 15, with the extreme minimum of -2.5 C rounding out the month on Nov. 30.
“The frequent sunshine that characterized most of November ended abruptly at the beginning of December, but the rainfall continued to be light and intermittent into the new month,” observed Carss.
“It is expected that precipitation in December will remain mostly light and intermittent, but with far less sunshine than in November. Temperatures will likely be colder and closer to seasonal normals than last month, so that some occasional snow may be mixed in with the intermittent rain.”