Fall 2020 weather in Victoria

In this post, we'll review Fall 2020.  Meteorological fall is from September 1 to November 30.  Fall 2020 in Victoria brought close to normal temperatures and slightly above average rainfall.  

The mean temperature this past fall at Victoria Gonzales was 11.4 degrees, which is just 0.2 degrees warmer than the 30-year average of 11.2.  The average daily maximum for Fall 2020 was 14.4 degrees, while the average daily minimum was 8.4.  September was much warmer than average (16.0 versus 14.9), while both October (10.8) and November (7.4) were slightly cooler than average.     

The chart below shows the daily maximum and minimum temperatures at Victoria Gonzales during fall 2020, compared with the 30-year averages.  Early September saw a warm period that sent temperatures into the upper 20s.  The warmest temperature of the fall was 29.4 degrees on September 10.  There was another warm spell in late September and early October. Late October saw an unusual cold spell, with a record low maximum of just 7.4 degrees on October 23rd, and temperatures dropping to just 0.4 degrees overnight on October 25, the coldest temperature recorded this fall.  The  normal daily max/min in late October is 13/8 degrees.  

Daily Max & Min Temperatures in Victoria, Fall 2020

Victoria received 244 mm of rain from September to November, compared with the normal rainfall of 227 mm.  September was wetter than normal (45.6 mm versus normal of 30.2 mm) while October (80.8 mm) and November (117.8 mm) were both close to normal rainfall.  

While the amount of rain during fall 2020 was slightly above normal, the number of days with measurable rainfall was slightly below normal.  Fall 2020 saw 34 days with measurable rainfall (8 in September, 8 in October, and 18 in November) compared with the average of 37.9 days that Victoria usually sees during the fall.  The difference was due entirely to the lower than average number of days with rainfall in October (8 verses 12.8), while days with rainfall were close to average in the other months.  

The chart below shows daily precipitation during fall 2020, and compares the cumulative precipitation with the 30-year average.   September started out dry, but a rainy spell during the second half of the month pushed cumulative rainfall above normal.  There was a short dry spell in late September and early October (12 days without measurable rainfall), but then fairly consistent rain for the rest of the fall.  The highest rainfall amount was 21.2 mm on November 3.  Victoria Gonzales typically receives its first 25 mm rainfall day by mid-November.  There were no such days during fall 2020, although there were 3 days with around 20 mm of rain.

Daily & Cumulative Rainfall in Victoria, Fall 2020

The chart below compares the rainfall amounts in Victoria this fall with other locations in the region.  As is typically the case, Victoria Gonzales had the lowest amount, with a total of 244 mm.  The Victoria Airport received 314 mm - 28% more than Victoria Gonzales.  Vancouver received 460 mm - 88% more than Victoria.  Normally, Vancouver receives more than double the rainfall that Victoria gets in the fall.  Seattle received 318 mm - about 30% more than Victoria, and mostly due to a much wetter September in Seattle.  

Comparison of rainfall by month, Fall 2020

Fall 2020 was very close to normal for sunshine, and in fact all three fall months were close to the long term averages. Victoria received about 47% of possible sunshine during fall 2020, ranging from 58% in September, to 45% in October, and 33% in November.

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) during fall 2020.  This shows a fairly typical fall pattern for Victoria.  More than half of the the days in September were mostly sunny, while partly cloudy days were most common in October, and mostly cloudy days were most common in November.