A Look at Winter 2015/16

The end of February is also the end of meteorological winter (December to February).  So what was winter like in Victoria?

First, it was mild.  The mean temperature over the three month period was 6.8 degrees - a full degree above the 30-year average of 5.8 degrees.  Winter 2015/16 tied for the 7th warmest winter on record in Victoria (with 118 years of record-keeping), although it was still well below the all time record of 7.6 degrees which we hit last winter.  The average daily max/min temperature this past winter was 8.9/4.8.  The warmest temperature was 14.0 on February 9th and the coldest was -0.9 on December 31st.  There were 5 days when the temperature dropped below 0, which all occurred between December 30th and January 2nd.  The 30-year average for Victoria Gonzales is 7.6 days with overnight temperatures dropping below freezing during the winter.

The chart below shows the daily maximum and minimum temperatures this winter, compared with the 30-year averages.  You can see that, except for the last 10 days of December and the first 10 days of January, temperatures were pretty consistently above average.  This is an El Nino year, so the mild temperatures are to be expected.  In fact, the mean temperature this winter of 6.8 degrees was the same as the average for the past 6 moderate or strong El Nino winters, as discussed here.

Daily max & min temperatures, winter 2015/16

This winter was also a little wetter than normal, but not by much.  Total precipitation from December to February was 280 mm, compared with the 30-year average of 259 mm.  The chart below shows the daily and cumulative precipitation this winter compared with the average.  You can see that precipitation ran a little ahead of normal in December.  This was followed by a dry January, with just 47 mm of rain.  Most of February was quite dry as well, but the heavy one day rainfall we received on the 15th pushed us above normal for the season.

Victoria's 280 mm of precipitation this winter compared with 681 mm in Vancouver and 626 mm in Seattle (where it has been the wettest winter rainy season on record).

There was no snow this winter, and it continues a snow drought for Victoria.  We had a couple of light dustings of snow during the winter of 2013/14, but you have to go back to the winter of 2011/12 for the last time we had significant snowfall (more than 3 cm).  That's four winters in a row now with little or no snow.