B.C. rain hits the brakes as unusual April pattern builds
The atmosphere is turning off the tap across the West Coast
Where’s the rain? That’ll be a common question across southwestern British Columbia over the next couple of weeks as an unusually dry pattern envelops the region.
Vancouver could be on track to see one of its driest stretches of late-April weather in recent memory.
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Folks who love calm weather may fall in love with the forecast across southwestern B.C.—but steady bouts of precipitation are always a good thing in the lead-up to wildfire season.
We generally average between 40 and 50 mm of rain through the second half of April across Metro Vancouver, while communities on western Vancouver Island typically pick up about 120 mm of rain to round out April.
The next two weeks will feature anything but your typical rainfall totals throughout the region.
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Precipitation deficits will range from 50-75 mm for the South Coast as upper-level ridging builds over the eastern Pacific. This pattern will force our active storm track to nudge northward, cutting off the tap and deflecting rounds of precipitation toward the northern half of the province.
It’s rare—but not unprecedented—to see such dry conditions in Vancouver through the second half of April.
April 2016 saw just 10 mm of rain during the final 15 days of the month, while just 5 mm of rainfall sprinkled on Metro Vancouver through the last half of April 1998. The last time we saw a completely dry second half of April occurred back in 1956.