Much of May felt like an outdoor sauna in the West Kootenay, which is now evidenced by meteorological data released by local forecaster Jesse Ellis.
In a nutshell, the month was four-plus degrees above normal — setting a new record temperature average of 17.7 C — with precipitation up 44 per cent from what’s typical for May.
“The month started off warm under a prevailing southerly flow aloft,” begins Ellis, weather forecaster with the Southeast Fire Centre, based in Castlegar.
New daily mean temperature records were broken on May 2, May 3, and May 4; and one daily maximum temperature record, 30.1 C, was set May 3.
By the fifth day, an upper low approaching from California brought cooler temperatures and 33.8 millimetres (mm) of rain, a new record amount for that day.
A strong upper ridge returned by mid-month, helping to break another daily temperature record on May 15 with a high of 32.2 C. The record high, however, remains 34.5 C set on May 18, 2006.
“Warm and showery conditions dominated much of the remainder of May as patchy moisture and strong surface heating fueled an almost daily cycle of afternoon and early evening convective showers or thundershowers,” Ellis adds. “Showers during this time were quite variable over relatively short distances and two more daily rainfall records were broken.”
By month-end, 101 mm of mostly rain had fallen, compared to the usual 70 mm. The record high of 157 mm from 1996 remains as does the record low, 17 mm of rainfall set way back in 1970. Record snow for the month of May was in 1985, when a mere four mm fell.
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