🌡️#VernonBC Weather - 2023 May 🧵
May was on metaphorical 🔥: the North Okanagan saw dense wildfire smoke from the north and temperatures that soared almost 5°C above monthly normal! Five daily temperature records fell (going back to 1901); meanwhile, the 2023 drought continues…
#VernonBC May 2023 Temperature Summary
Average: 17.9°C (Normal: 13.1°C)
Maximum: 32.4°C (Normal: 19.7°C; Extreme: 34.5°C)
Minimum: 6.9°C (Normal: 6.4 °C; Extreme: -5°C)
❗️Mean temperature was a whopping 4.8°C warmer than normal❗️
#VernonBC Spring Heat
Vernon has had it's hottest May ever using the Cooling Degree Days metric! Many #Okanagan-#Shuswap stations saw new daily Tmax records, including five in #VernonBC!
[Cumulative Cooling Degree-days (A heat exposure metric summing daily average T>18°C)].
#VernonBC Precipitation
May's precipitation was well below normal, as has been the case every month this year
Total Precip (mm) for May was 27.1 mm. This is 57% of the 1981-2010 normal (47.8 mm).
As for climatological spring (Mar-May), it has been the 23rd driest in 124 years with 53.4 mm over the three months. June is normally our wettest month (59.1 mm); will our 2023 pattern of below normal precipitation continue this month?
Silver Star (1840 m) Snow Water Equivalent (mm) #VernonBC.
Cumulative winter snowpack (red) is experiencing a record ablation (melting) rate so far with about 37% still to come. Years' previous are grey traces.
#VernonBC 2023 Climate Variance
Monthly differences of temperature compared to the 1981-2010 climate normal (l).
Chart of precipitation deficit/surplus compared to normal (r). Vertical scale is in millimetres and text label is percent of normal (r).
Implications of our warm and dry spring:
The #Okanagan Valley bottom has an extreme Fire Weather Drought Code. The code represents average moisture content of deep, compact organic layers. This code is a useful indicator of seasonal drought effects on forest fuels.
Credits: station actual, normal, and almanac data are from climate.weather.gc.ca, unless otherwise noted. For historical references, I use unadjusted data from three Vernon weather stations that have operated over the decades.
#VernonBC Weather Summary - 2023 Aug 🧵
Another month of much warmer (3.0°C) and drier (7%!) than climate normals. The climatological summer (Jun-Aug) averaged 3.1°C warmer and precipitation is 15% of normal (!), 3nd warmest and 2nd driest in over a century (2017 was drier).
#VernonBC August 2023 Temperature Summary
➡️Average: 21.8°C (Normal: 18.8°C)
➡️Maximum: 38.1°C (Normal: 26.1°C; Extreme: 37.8°C)
➡️Minimum: 9.4°C (Normal: 11.3 °C; Extreme: -1.7°C)
Mean temperature was 3.0°C warmer than normal. 2023 was the 3rd warmest on record
#VernonBC Summer Heat Index: Cumulative Cooling Degree-days (A heat exposure metric summing daily average T>18°C).
Vernon had it's fourth highest CCDD Aug since 1900. Fortunately the federal Heat Warning criteria were never exceeded during the month (came close, twice).
#VernonBC Weather Summary - 2023 Jul🧵
Like the world and hemisphere, another month this year of much warmer and drier conditions than climate normals. Fortunately Vernon did not see any "extreme" heat events with many periodic cool breaks; only two nights were greater than 18°C.
#VernonBC July 2023 Temperature Summary
-Average: 22.6°C (Normal: 19.1°C)
-Max: 36.9°C (Normal: 26.5°C; Extreme: 40°C)
-Min: 9.6°C (Normal: 11.7 °C; Extreme: 3.3°C)
Mean temperature was 3.5°C warmer than normal and the 5th warmest July on record.
#VernonBC Summer Heat Index: Cumulative Cooling Degree-days (A heat exposure metric summing daily average T>18°C).
Vernon had it's sixth highest CCDD July since 1900.
#VernonBC Weather Summary - 2023 Jun 🧵
🚨June, normally our wettest month, was only 19% of normal, 5th driest going back to 1900. Each month this year is below normal, remarkedly similar to 2021 (year of the White Rock Lake Fire), and contrasts our wetter than norm June 2022.
VERNON AUTO's #VernonBC June 2023 Temperature Summary
Average: 19.4°C (Normal: 16.6°C)
Maximum: 35.5°C (Normal: 23.4°C; Extreme: 37°C)
Minimum: 7.1°C (Normal: 9.9 °C; Extreme: 0°C)
Mean temperature was 2.8°C warmer than normal.
#VernonBC Summer Heat
Cumulative Cooling Degree-days (A heat exposure metric summing daily average temperature units >18°C).
Vernon had it's fifth greatest CCDDs June since 1900. 2021 was the greatest.