Meteorological summer consists of June, July, and August. Summer 2021 brought extraordinary 1 in 1,000 year heat in June, and a long dry spell from mid-June to August. Overall, the summer was warmer, drier, and sunnier than normal this year in Victoria.
The mean temperature this past summer at Victoria Gonzales was 16.5 degrees, which is 0.7 degrees above the 30-year average. Summer 2021 was the 5th warmest in Victoria since record-keeping began at Gonzales Observatory in 1914. June was the warmest on record in Victoria - 2 full degrees above normal, July was close to normal, and August was about 0.4 degrees above normal.The chart below shows the daily maximum and minimum temperatures at Victoria Gonzales during summer 2021, compared with the 30-year averages. What immediately stands out is the extraordinary heat wave in late June, when temperatures reached 39.8 C at Victoria Gonzales, beating the old all-time temperature record by nearly 4 degrees. Climatologists estimated this to be a 1 in 1,000 year event for our region.
There were 3 other more typical Victoria heat waves during the summer, lasting only a day or two and with temperatures reaching 28 C at the beginning of June, 29 C in mid-June, and just shy of 30 C in mid-August. For the rest of the summer, temperatures were fairly close to the average. Overall, the average daily high temperature this summer was 21.1 C (versus the normal of 20.0 C) while the average daily minimum was 12.0 C (normal 11.5 C). Other locations in the region, away from the cooling effects of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, had significantly warmer average daytime highs. For example, the average daily high temperature this summer at the University of Victoria was 24.0 C (compared with the normal of 22.6 C).
Victoria Gonzales averages 38 days each summer when the temperature exceeds 20 C, but for summer 2021 there were 49 such days. Similarly, there were 14 days above 25 C in summer 2021, double the average of 7. There were 3 days when the temperature exceeded 30 C (all during the June heat wave), compared with the average of 1.1 days.
Victoria received 16 mm of rain from June to August, which is just over one third of the normal for its summer rainfall of 47 mm. June and August saw about half of normal rainfall, while there was no measurable rain during July (the 7th time this has happened).
Victoria had 7 days with measurable rainfall this summer, just under half of the normal 14.8 days. There were 5 days with measurable rain in June, none in July, and 2 in August. There was no measurable rainfall from June 15 to August 6 - a total of 53 days, making it the third longest such stretch since 1914. By comparison, the average summer drought period over the past 30 years has been 26 days.
The chart below shows daily precipitation during summer 2021, and compares the cumulative precipitation with the 30-year average. The first half of June was fairly close to normal, but this was followed by that 53 day stretch with no measurable rain. The rainfall that broke the drought, 5 mm on August 7, was also the wettest day of the entire summer.
Victoria Gonzales averages 38 days each summer when the temperature exceeds 20 C, but for summer 2021 there were 49 such days. Similarly, there were 14 days above 25 C in summer 2021, double the average of 7. There were 3 days when the temperature exceeded 30 C (all during the June heat wave), compared with the average of 1.1 days.
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| Daily Max & Min Temperature at Victoria Gonzales, Summer 2021 |
Victoria received 16 mm of rain from June to August, which is just over one third of the normal for its summer rainfall of 47 mm. June and August saw about half of normal rainfall, while there was no measurable rain during July (the 7th time this has happened).
Victoria had 7 days with measurable rainfall this summer, just under half of the normal 14.8 days. There were 5 days with measurable rain in June, none in July, and 2 in August. There was no measurable rainfall from June 15 to August 6 - a total of 53 days, making it the third longest such stretch since 1914. By comparison, the average summer drought period over the past 30 years has been 26 days.
The chart below shows daily precipitation during summer 2021, and compares the cumulative precipitation with the 30-year average. The first half of June was fairly close to normal, but this was followed by that 53 day stretch with no measurable rain. The rainfall that broke the drought, 5 mm on August 7, was also the wettest day of the entire summer.
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| Daily & Cumulative Rainfall at Victoria Gonzales, Summer 2021 |
The chart below compares the rainfall amounts in Victoria this summer with other locations in the region. As is typically the case, Victoria Gonzales had the lowest amount, with a total of 16 mm. The Victoria Airport received almost 41 mm - more than 2.5 times as much as Victoria Gonzales, mostly due to higher rainfall in June. Vancouver received 82 mm - more than 5 times as much as Victoria (Vancouver typically receives about 3 times as much rain in the summer as Victoria). Seattle received 51 mm - more than 3 times Victoria's rainfall. While Victoria only received about one third of its normal summer rainfall this year, the other locations received between 57% and 67% of normal. Note that none of the locations received any significant rainfall in July (Vancouver received 0.5 mm while the other locations had no measurable rain).
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| Rainfall in Victoria and the Region, Summer 2021 |
Summer 2021 was sunnier than normal. June and July were both sunnier than normal, while August was slightly cloudier than normal. Summer 2021 was the 5th sunniest recorded in Victoria (after 1951, 1958, 2018, and 1961). It was sunny 73% of daylight hours this summer ( and 82% of daylight hours in July).
The table below shows the number of mostly sunny days (>80% of possible sunshine), partly cloudy days (20-80% of possible sunshine), and mostly cloudy days (<20% of possible sunshine). There were 57 mostly sunny days this summer compared with the normal of 45 days. Conversely, there were only 5 mostly cloudy days, compared with the normal of 12 days.
