A wet April in Victoria

As was the case in March, April in Victoria had close to normal temperatures, but while March 2018 was much drier than normal, April 2018 was much wetter than normal.

The mean temperature for April 2018 was 9.9 degrees at Victoria Gonzales, right on the 30-year average.  The average daily high temperature of 12.9 degrees this year was half a degree below the normal of 13.4, while the average daily low temperature of 6.8 degrees was half a degree above the normal of 6.3 degrees.  The warmest temperature of the month was 24.9 degrees on April 26th.  That's the fourth warmest monthly maximum temperature ever recorded at Victoria Gonzales, with the warmest being 27.0 degrees in April 1998.  Victoria Gonzales averages about 1 day in April with maximum temperatures above 20 degrees; this year there were 3 days.  The coldest temperature was 2.5 degrees on April 2nd, which is a fairly typical monthly minimum for April.

The chart below shows the daily maximum and minimum temperatures this April compared with the long term averages.  Generally, temperatures have fluctuated around the averages, although you can see a period of below average temperatures mid-month, followed by a mini-heatwave that occurred April 23-26.

Daily Max & Min Temperatures in Victoria, April 2018

While temperatures were close to normal, precipitation was well above normal, with 62 mm of rainfall at Victoria Gonzales in April, nearly double the 30-year average of 33 mm.  This was the ninth wettest April on record at Victoria Gonzales (with records going back 105 years).

The chart below shows the daily and cumulative precipitation in Victoria this April, compared with the average cumulative precipitation.  Clearly, rainfall was well above normal, particularly in the first half of the month.  There was measurable precipitation (more than 0.2 mm) on 15 days this April, compared with the normal of 10 days.  The wettest days were the 4th (when 13.2 mm of rain fell) and the 16th (12.2 mm).

Daily & Cumulative Rainfall in Victoria, April 2018

As is typical, other locations in the region were even wetter than Victoria Gonzales in April.  The Victoria Airport recorded 98 mm of rain in April, while Nanaimo recorded 113 mm (about double Victoria).   Vancouver Harbour recorded 179 mm of rain in April - nearly three times as much rain as Victoria, which is fairly typical.  Seattle recorded 145 mm of rain in April.