British Columbia facing a frigid February

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Dayna Vettese
Meteorologist

Wednesday, February 5, 2014, 2:24 PM -

It’s been an active winter across the country whether you've experienced ice storms, wild temperature swings, avalanches, fog-mageddon or blizzards. British Columbia has had its fair share of changeable weather this winter.

December temperatures averaged out to below normal for portions of the south coast of British Columbia and northern sections. In Vancouver, the average daytime high in December is about 6.3°C and December 2013 averaged out to be 4.9°C; just over 1°C below normal.

January on average was the same number of degrees below normal as December. That being said, the December cold was likely more noticeable as we had more consecutive below normal days in Vancouver in December than in January. We also had quite a few more above normal days in Vancouver in January than in December.

December temperature anomalies:

$December temperature anomalies from 1981-2010 climate normals. Image: NOAA\ESRL$

December temperature anomalies from 1981-2010 climate normals. Image: NOAA\ESRL

January temperature anomalies:

January temperature anomalies from 1981-2010 climate normals. Image: NOAA/ESRL

Precipitation-wise, it really depended on where you were in British Columbia whether or not you had a wet December or January.

The south coast had a very dry December followed by a somewhat dry January. On average, December at Vancouver airport records roughly 162 mm of precipitation (rain and snow combined). This December, the airport only picked up about 77 mm; about half the normal amount. January was a bit wetter in Vancouver recording about 142 mm of precipitation with the normal amount being about 168 mm (80% of normal).

If you look at central and northern coastal sections of B.C., though, December was very wet. Prince Rupert picked up 370 mm of precipitation in December with the climate normal being about 294 mm.

January was on the drier side with 106 mm recorded compared to the normal 276 mm. January did end off on a foggy note for many southern B.C. residents.

December precipitation anomalies: