Victoria is often in the rainshadow of the Olympic Mountains, and as a result it generally gets much less rain than surrounding areas. This phenomenon was really on display in April.
Below is the radar image for April 6, 2023. The rainshadow "hole", to the northeast of the Olympic Mountains is clearly visible.
Here is another radar image from April 6, showing a closer view of Victoria. A great rainshadow, extending across Greater Victoria, the San Juan Islands, and over towards Anacortes.
Southwestern B.C. and the US Pacific Northwest experienced an atmospheric river event from April 6-9, 2023. However, the rainshadow kept Victoria extraordinarily dry. Below is a chart comparing the rainfall totals for April 6-9. Rainfall in the core area of Greater Victoria ranged between 0.8 and 2 mm. Victoria Airport (located 25 km to the north and typically less protected by the rainshadow) received 8.3 mm. Other locations in the region received 25 mm or more, including 64 mm at Vancouver Harbour and 77 mm at West Vancouver - nearly 100 times as much rain as the University of Victoria received.
While the April 6-9 event was the most dramatic, Victoria stayed significantly drier than other locations in the region for the whole month. The chart below compares April rainfall totals. Again, locations in the core area of Greater Victoria were much drier, receiving between 17.8 mm and 22 mm of rain for the entire month (normal April rainfall for Victoria Gonzales is about 34 mm). The Victoria Airport and the Cowichan Valley each received more than 3 times as much rain as Victoria Gonzales. Seattle received more than 5 times as much rain as Victoria, and Vancouver Harbour received nearly 9 times as much rain. Port Alberni and West Vancouver received 11-12 times as much rain as Victoria Gonzales.
April continued the trend of a dry start to 2023. During the first 4 months of the year, Victoria Gonzales has only received about 128 mm of precipitation - half of the normal 257 mm for that period.
