“Dry January” is garnering new meaning in Metro Vancouver, which has seen far less downpour than usual during this typically soggy time of year.
From Jan. 1 to Jan. 23, the region recorded 33.5 mm of rainfall, meagre when compared to the typical January levels of 160 mm for the full month, said Colin Fong, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
“It’s certainly a dry January that we’ve been having thus far, compared to normal,” he said.
“In the last couple of weeks especially, we’ve seen very little precipitation and near or slightly below temperature normals. That looks to continue at least until early next week,” he said.
As January nears its end, a series of potential storms could help bump up the numbers, with storms predicted for midweek next week – but with such little time left in the month and a large deficit to make up for, it’s unlikely Metro Vancouver will catch up to the precipitation levels typical for this month, says Fong.
The unseasonably parched January conditions can be put down to a ridge of high pressure that is directing turbulent weather away from the region, Fong explained.
“Typically, we would just see storm after storm come at us, but because of this ridge of high pressure that tends to be more associated with nicer weather, or at least drier weather, it’s really pushed storms away from us for the last couple of weeks,” he said.
It’s also the reason behind this winter’s unseasonably mild temperatures, he added.
“This time of year, we tend to see cold Arctic air make its way down the province, and we haven’t really seen that yet.”
While there “certainly would be impacts” if an unusually dry winter were to be followed by a dry spring, Fong said it would be difficult to comment on what drought concerns may arise this early in the year.
As for the rest of winter, snowfall “can’t be ruled out” for February, said Fong.
“At the very least, as we close out the month leading into February, we are going to see a return of some storms, and perhaps a return to more normal temperatures for what we expect at this time of the month,” he said.
Metro Vancouver’s driest January on record was in 1949, with 18.3 millimetres of rainfall. While this January has surpassed that record substantially already, the last time the region experienced such low level of rainfall during this month was before the millennium, says Fong.
“It’s shaping up to look like it could be one of the more drier Januarys, if not the driest, of the 2000s,” he said.
