January was another cold month in Victoria, following a cold
December, with continued “Arctic outbreaks” of cold dry air from the B.C.
Interior, interspersed with periods of milder Pacific air. The mean monthly
temperature of 3.9 degrees was nearly a full two degrees below the 30-year
average of 5.8 degrees. In fact, January 2017 was the coldest January since 1993 - nearly 25 years ago. The average daily max and min temperature in January was
6.2/1.5, compared with the normal of 7.7/3.8. The warmest temperature during
the month was 12.2 degrees on the 17th, while the coldest temperature
was -3.2 degrees, recorded on both the 3rd and the 12th.
The daily maximum exceeded the monthly average of 7.6 degrees on only 10 days
this January. On the other hand, the overnight minimum was lower than the
monthly average of 3.8 degrees on 25 days this January. There were 9 days when
overnight lows dropped below freezing, compared with the long term average of 2.9 days.
The chart below shows the daily maximum and minimum
temperatures in Victoria this past month, compared with the average
temperatures. You can see that temperatures were below average during the first half of the month (with an average daily max/min of 3.6/-0.9). The second half of January saw slightly above average temperatures ( average max/min of 8.5/3.9), except for a dip during the last few days of the month.
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| Daily Maximum and Minimum Temperatures, January 2017 |
While January 2017 was cold, the frequent Arctic outbreaks
meant it was also dry. There was only 24.7 mm of precipitation recorded at
Victoria Gonzales in January. This is about one quarter of the normal 104 mm,
making this January the 5th driest in the past 100 years at Victoria Gonzales.
Victoria saw precipitation on just 8 days in January 2017, compared with the
usual 17 days. Two thirds of the month’s rainfall came in a short 3-day stretch
from January 17 to 19. Despite the cold, there wasn’t much snow in Victoria
this January, just a 1 cm dusting on January 1st that melted away by
noon.
The chart below shows daily and cumulative precipitation in
Victoria this January, compared with the long-term average cumulative
precipitation. You can see that the amount is well below normal.
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| Daily and Cumulative Precipitation, January 2017 |
As I’ve mentioned many times on this blog, Victoria tends to
get significantly less rainfall than surrounding areas, and this past month that
trend was even more evident. The chart below compares the total precipitation
for January 2017 at Victoria Gonzales and a number of nearby locations. The
Victoria Airport, 30 kms to the north, had more than twice as much precipitation as Victoria Gonzales.
Nanaimo had 3 times as much precipitation as Victoria, Seattle had more than 4 times as
much, and Vancouver had more than 5 times as much. In the winter time, the
differences usually aren’t this great. The Arctic outbreaks we had this month
tended to push the jet stream further south, with lots of precipitation going
into California. As a result, Los Angeles, received over 200 mm of rain - more than
8 times as much as Victoria.
