The arrival of 2022 was extra frosty in Chilliwack, with Jan. 1 having marked eight days in a row of sub-zero temperatures.
The data is from the January weather report prepared by Roger Pannett, Chilliwack’s volunteer weather observer for Environment Canada.
Pannett’s records show that on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 the arctic front and an intense Pacific frontal system produced heavy, drifting snow.
“With cold, dense arctic air entrenched in the eastern Fraser Valley on Jan. 7, the worst ice storm since Dec. 10, 1995 occurred,” Pannett said.
The freezing rain resulted in a 2.2 centimetre ice buildup, known as “accretion” with consequent power outages.
On Jan. 10 a strong south westerly air flow produced the first atmospheric river of 2022 with a just under 65 millimetre over a 72-hour rainfall total.
After mid-month the passage of two upper-level high pressure ridges were the predominant weather feature that made it extra foggy.
“The resultant stagnant air mass and temperature inversion produced foggy conditions, particularly in the western Fraser Valley.”
Mild and wet conditions returned at month’s end.
Temperature extremes for the month were the mild 12.8 C (8.8 C above normal) on Jan. 20 and the cold -10.0 C (8.6 C below normal) on Jan. 1.
Rainfall and snowfall totals were 16.31 per cent below normal and as with January temperatures no records were broken.
It was the fifth consecutive January with above normal temperatures, + 0.86 °C, but the coolest since 2017.
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