With no great highs or lows in terms of weather, July turned out to be rather typical for the West Kootenay.
“The month averaged out to be near normal as far as the total amount of rain and the mean monthly temperature,” local forecaster Ron Lakeman summarized in his month-end report.
In comparison to the past two summers, however, he says the finer details explain why it felt like a relatively cool and rainy July.
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The average daily high temperature was one degree cooler than normal, and even though the amount of rain was near normal, the number of days in which measurable rain fell was greater than normal.
There were 14 days with rain, Lakeman clarified, noting the normal number of days with rain is 10.
“July of 2017 and 2018 only had two and four days with rain respectively,” he explained. “July 2017 and 2018 were also three to five degrees warmer than normal.”
The initial three weeks of the month were relatively eventful as Pacific disturbances spread scattered showers and thunderstorms across southern British Columbia.
Locally, the most significant bands of thundershowers produced 11.4 millimetres of rain during the night of July 23 and early the following morning.
“There were 10 days in which a thunderstorm was observed. The normal for July is five,” Lakeman concluded. “High pressure and dry, warmer conditions prevailed during the final week of the month.”
While no records were broken, the coolest day, July 19, brought a low of 8.4 C. The warmest day arrived on July 23, and spiked the mercury at 36.7 C.
According to Lakeman’s data, the coldest July day remains 4 C, recorded on July 3, 1979. The hottest on record happened 16 years ago on July 30, when the temperature reached 39.9 C.
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