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Tuesday saw record rainfall in Chilliwack

Drought conditions in the province shifted when the rains arrived last week
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A record rainfall was recorded Sept. 1

It's been a long, hot summer of drought conditions.

Those conditions changed when the heavy rains arrived last week.

A record rainfall was recorded Sept. 1, 2015 with 37.6 mm of the wet stuff coming down in Chilliwack, said Roger Pannett, volunteer weather observer for Environment Canada.

The previous record on that day was 36.0 mm in 1980.

Most of the rain fell at the end of August.

"Near month's end the high pressure system, that had trapped wildfire smoke over southern B.C., shifted east," noted Pannett. "A pair of incoming storms merged the two jet streams, producing unseasonably damaging high winds and heavy rainfall."

The total rainfall for the month turned out to be 120 per cent above normal, making it the wettest August since the record breaking 218.7 mm total in August 2008.



Jennifer Feinberg

About the Author: Jennifer Feinberg

I have been a Chilliwack Progress reporter for 20+ years, covering the arts, city hall, as well as Indigenous, and climate change stories.
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