There were 12 days in July where Chilliwack was able to welcome some summer rain.
That’s twice as many rain days compared to the 30-year average for July, according to Roger Pannett, volunteer weather observer for Environment Canada in his Chilliwack weather report for July 2019.
The rain cooled things overall because there were only two really hot days where temperatures soared above 30 C, making it a July with the fewest number of hot days in seven years, Pannett noted.
Now compare that with the scorching 10-day heat wave with temps 30+ C last year at around the same time.
READ MORE: The 2018 heat wave that persisted
“Throughout the month a predominantly zonal jet stream persisted with only three transient weak high pressure ridges,” Pannett wrote in his report.
“On July 9, an active Pacific frontal system produced a record 20.2 millimetres (mm) rainfall, exceeding the previous record of 13.7 mm in 1880.”
But despite having more quantifiable days of rain last month, the actual amount that fell wasn’t excessive. A total of 48.8 mm of rain fell in July 2019, compared to 46 mm for the 30-year average.
Meanwhile temperatures were still 1.65 C above normal.
“It was the eighth consecutive July with mean temperatures above normal, the past seven well in excess of the standard deviation + or – 1.2 C, a warming trend never previously observed since Chilliwack records commenced in 1895.
“Also it was the 5th consecutive month with well above average mean temperatures.”
In terms of the temperature extremes recorded, there was a maximum temp of 32.5 C (7.6 C above normal with a 20 per cent relative humidity) on July 21 and a near normal minimum of 11.3 C on July 20.
The 2019 precipitation total to date for Chilliwack is 633.2 mm that fell on 80 days, compared to the average of 983 mm on 97 days.
READ MORE: Stay hydrated when the heat is on
@CHWKjourno
jfeinberg@theprogress.com
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