Meteorological spring consists of March, April, and May. Spring 2021 in Victoria brought lower rainfall and slightly cooler temperatures than normal. The spring started out cooler than normal in March, followed by a slightly warmer than normal April, and ended with a cooler than normal May. Meanwhile, all three spring months were drier than normal in 2021.
The mean temperature this past spring at Victoria Gonzales was 9.8 degrees (ave. high 13.3 & ave. low 6.4), which is 0.3 degrees below the 30-year average of 10.1 C. March was 0.6 degrees cooler than normal, April was 0.4 degrees warmer than normal, then May was 0.6 degrees cooler than normal.
The chart below shows the daily maximum and minimum temperatures at Victoria Gonzales during spring 2021, compared with the 30-year averages. The most obvious feature is the "heat wave" that Victoria experienced in mid-April. Temperatures were in the 20s for 5 days, peaking at 24 C on April 17. For much of the rest of spring, temperatures were generally below normal.
There were no days during Spring 2020 when the overnight low fell below freezing. On average, Victoria sees just 0.6 days each spring with a low temperature below 0. The coldest temperature of the spring was March 15 when the temperature dropped to 1.6 degrees. The warmest day of the spring was 24.0 degrees on April 17. That is unusually early for the warmest day of spring, in part thanks to a cool May. Spring 2021 in Victoria saw no days with temperatures above 25 degrees, compared with the average of 0.5 25-degree plus days each spring.
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| Max & Min Temperatures in Victoria, Spring 2021 |
Victoria received 83 mm of precipitation during the March to May period. That's about 72% of the 30-year average spring precipitation of 115 mm, making it the 25th driest spring at Victoria Gonzales in 108 years - in other words, drier than normal, but not exceedingly dry. March saw 40 mm of rain - just 72% of normal, April saw 22 mm of rain - just 65% of normal, and May saw 21 mm - 80% of normal rainfall.
Spring 2021 also saw fewer than average days with measurable rainfall: just 27 days compared with the average of 33.6. There were 9 days in March, 7 days in April, and 11 days in May with measurable rainfall.
The chart below shows daily precipitation during spring 2021, and compares the cumulative precipitation with the 30-year average. Cumulative rainfall stayed below average throughout throughout the spring. March 24, with 15.4 mm, was the wettest day of the spring. March 28, with 11.6 mm, was the only other day during the spring with more than 10 mm of rain.
Spring 2021 also saw fewer than average days with measurable rainfall: just 27 days compared with the average of 33.6. There were 9 days in March, 7 days in April, and 11 days in May with measurable rainfall.
The chart below shows daily precipitation during spring 2021, and compares the cumulative precipitation with the 30-year average. Cumulative rainfall stayed below average throughout throughout the spring. March 24, with 15.4 mm, was the wettest day of the spring. March 28, with 11.6 mm, was the only other day during the spring with more than 10 mm of rain.
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| Daily & Cumulative Rainfall in Victoria, Spring 2021 |
The chart below compares the precipitation amounts in Victoria this spring with other locations in the region. While Victoria Gonzales typically receives the lowest amount of rainfall in the region, in spring 2021, Victoria Airport was actually drier. While spring rainfall was 72% of normal at Victoria Gonzales, it was just 32% of normal at Victoria Airport and 44% of normal in Vancouver. Looking at this another, Vancouver typically gets more than 3 times as much rain in the spring as Victoria does, but in 2021 it received less than double Victoria's rainfall. Seattle received 52% of its normal spring rainfall.
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| Regional Comparison of Spring 2021 Rainfall |
