The sun has been a constant fixture in Nanaimo and many other parts of the province for the past few months. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

sunsational

Nanaimo sees one of driest springs on record

Jun 2, 2021 | 5:21 AM

NANAIMO — Rainfall was sparse in Nanaimo and many other portions of the province this spring.

Environment Canada meteorologist Doug Lundquist told NanaimoNewsNOW local spring rainfall totals the previous three months amounted to only 33 to 40 per cent of normal.

“It was the fourth driest spring ever. We take Spring from the first of March to the end of May, exceedingly dry,” Lundquist said, who noted local rainfall data dates back more than a century.

Lundquist said it was consistently dry in Nanaimo in the spring, which he called highly unusual, which was experienced in several other communities in the southern half of B.C.

“We weren’t top ten in Nanaimo for any one of those three months, but because all three of them were exceedingly dry, spring as a whole ended up being fourth (driest.)”

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May saw 77 millimeters of rain in Nanaimo compared to the average amount of 232 millimeters, while Victoria and Abbotsford saw their driest springs on record.

Lundquist said the average temperature in Nanaimo this spring was only slightly above normal at 9.5 degrees.

Drought concerns are elevated with modelling suggesting we’re in for a warmer than normal summer, Lundquist said.

“A warmer than average summer doesn’t speak well after having such a dry spring through much of the southern part of British Columbia.”’

Lundquist said it’s too difficult to make long term precipitation estimations.

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