July weather was very hot and dry, in fact it was one of the hottest and driest on record in Chilliwack, according to Roger Pannett, volunteer weather observer for Environment Canada at Chilliwack.
How hot was it?
There were eight sweltering days in July where temperatures soared above 30C, compared to the monthly average of three hot days.
“With a blocking ridge of high pressure entrenched over western Canada the hot and dry conditions since mid-June continued throughout July,” said Pannett in his July 2021 report.
Temperature extremes included reaching 36.5C with a 25 per cent relative humidity on July 30, and an overnight low of 11.5C on July 22.
Three overnight temperature records were broken July 1, 2, and 31, where nighttime lows were about seven or eight degrees above normal.
With a mean temperature at 21.84C (3.64C above normal), after 2015 and 2018, it was the third hottest July on record.
It was the tenth consecutive July with mean temperatures above normal, a warming trend never previously observed since Chilliwack records started in 1895.
Extreme UV levels were reported on three days, peaking with a UV rating of 12 on July 15.
The drought, which started in mid-June, continued into July. The drought lasted 46 days without rain, and tied as the second longest on record.
A 51-day drought was recorded during the summer of 1951 and a 46-day drought in 1985.
The provincial fire danger rating from B.C. Wildfire Service was listed as ‘Extreme’ in the Lower Mainland in addition to Interior regions & the majority of Vancouver Island.
“At 0.0 mm it was the driest July on record,” Pannett said, adding the previous driest July was in 1960 with a trace of precipitation. Since July 2020, monthly precipitation totals have been below normal, a trend not previously observed for more than 30 years.
The City of Chilliwack 2021 precipitation total to date remains at 546.3 mm over 87 days compared to the average of 983 mm over 97 days.
READ MORE: Weather was a different story last July
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