A look at winter 2017/18 in Victoria

Meteorological winter (December to February) finished a few weeks ago.  So what was the winter of 2017/18 like in Victoria?  Unlike the very warm winters of 2014/15 and 2015/16, followed by the extremely cold winter of 2016/17, this past winter was closer to normal, though still a bit cooler and wetter than the 30-year average.

The mean temperature over the three month period was 5.4 degrees - cooler than the 30-year average of 5.8 degrees, but nothing too unusual.  This follows the extreme cases of 2014/15 (mean winter temperature of 7.6 degrees), 2015/16 (6.8 degrees), and 2016/17 (just 3.9 degrees).  The average daily max/min temperature this past winter was 7.4/3.3 (compared with the normal 7.9/3.6).  The warmest temperature was 12.8 on February 4th and the coldest was -2.2, also recorded in February, on the 21st.  There were 10 days when the temperature dropped below 0 (4 days in December, none in January, and 6 in February).  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.  The first half of December was fairly mild, then it turned cold in late December.  January was generally quite mild, with temperatures just above normal.  February started out mild, then turned much colder towards the end of the month.

Daily Maximum & Minimum Temperatures, Winter 2017/18

This winter was also a little wetter than normal.  Total precipitation from December to February was 308 mm, compared with the 30-year average of 264 mm.  All three winter months were slightly  wetter than the winter normal.  The chart below shows the daily and cumulative precipitation this winter compared with the average.  Early December was dry, but rainfall totals caught up to normal when 37 mm of rain fell on December 19, the wettest day of the winter.  After that, cumulative precipitation stayed slightly above normal.

Daily & Cumulative Precipitation, Winter 2017/18

The 308 mm of precipitation recorded at Victoria Gonzales this winter compared with 399 mm at the Victoria Airport and 655 mm at Vancouver Harbour.

There was 11 cm snow this winter, a little more than half the 30-year average of 20 cm.  We had one snowfall in December (perfectly timed to fall overnight on Dec. 24-25, then all melted by Dec. 26), and one snowfall in February.