It’s been a long time since it rained in Victoria. 39 days to be exact. Without any measurable rain at Victoria Airport since June 18, Environment Canada says this ties for second longest dry spell on record.
We haven’t had a dry stretch like this since 1990, the last time YYJ went without rain for 39 days (July 7 – to August 14).
It hasn’t rained all summer
The amount of rain that fell in June was close to average, but it fell in the first half of the month. June 2017 recorded 27.6mm of rain (just under the normal of 30.6mm) between June 1 and June 18.
Then summer began a couple of days later, and it hasn’t rained since.
July is typically our driest month. On average, Victoria gets 17.9mm of rain, but rarely is it this dry. Since recordkeeping began only two other years have been perfectly dry through the entire month of July: 2013 and 1958. With no rain in the forecast for the Capital Region, and just a few days left to go in the month, it looks like we’ll add 2017 to the list of years where July remained arid.
Will it ever rain again?
Eventually, yes, it will rain again, but long range forecasts don’t project a downpour any time soon.
The longest stretch of dry weather in YYJ is 52 days. That rain-free streak began July 18, 1986 and continued through September 7th, right in the middle of Expo 86!
If we don’t get any rain by August 9th we’ll tie the no-rain record. At this point, it appears to be a real possibility.
