The hot weather at the end of the month almost made us forget about how unsettled it was in the Chemainus Valley during the early part of July.
Statistics from July compiled by Chris Carss, a volunteer weather observer/recorder for Environment and Climate Change Canada, indicate we had a little bit of everything over the 31 days.
Some of the monthly highlights provided by Carss were as follows:
1. Daytime temperatures were nearly a degree above normal, with nighttime temperatures two degrees above normal.
2. Total rainfall was nearly twice the normal but occurred within the normal number of days with rain. Nearly all the precipitation fell during the first half of the month.
3. July actually started off a little cooler than normal because of the shower activity, but warmed up quickly as drier weather moved in.
4. The total number of mostly sunny and dry days was three above normal, but well short of last year’s freaky July total of 30 days (i.e. every day of the month was mostly sunny except one which was cloudy but still dry).
Detailed statistics were as follows:
Temperature
Mean maximum 24.5C, normal 23.7C.
Mean minimum 15.4C, normal 13.3C.
Extreme maximum 34C on July 26.
Extreme minimum 13C on July 4, 11, 14, and 19.
Sunshine
Days mostly or partly sunny and dry 21, normal 19.
Days with mixed weather (sunshine and precipitation) 2.
Total days mostly or partly sunny (including mixed weather days) 24.
Precipitation
Total days with rainfall (including mixed weather days) 8, normal 7.
Total accumulated rainfall 43.1 mm, normal 27.5
On Thetis Island, Keith Rush recorded 38.5 millimetres of rain at his Foster Point Road residence. That’s a new July record, surpassing the 33.1 mm from 2016.
Last year, there was absolutely nothing in terms of precipitation the entire month. The average July on Thetis yields 12.7 mm.
The year-to-date on Thetis is running at 629.7 mm, way above the 434.9 mm to this point in 2021.
Carss looks ahead to the rest of August.
“July’s heatwave has come to an end, so it is expected that temperatures for August will be much closer to the historical normals,” he noted. “Daytime values will mostly be in the mid-20s. One pattern from the second half of July that will likely persist into August is the general lack of rainfall. A few showers are likely, but rainfall amounts are expected to be below normal.”
