It’s easier to count the days it didn’t rain in Greater Victoria last month: Four.
The remaining 27 days in October saw rain, measured at Victoria International Airport, breaking a record for the most days of rain in the month.
With rain predicted for the rest of the week, the wet weather shows no sign of letting up.
The previous October record for the airport was 25 days of rain in 1967 and 1985. Last month saw almost double the 14 days of rain the region typically receives in October. “We’re used to rain here, but certainly the number of days with rain, we’ve got umbrella fatigue,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Ross McDonald.
Despite heavy all-day rain that marked the stormy Thanksgiving long weekend, the 227 millimetres of rain last month is well behind the record rainfall, 318 mm in October 2003.
While Environment Canada calculates records for Greater Victoria based on the airport weather station in North Saanich, conditions — including days of rainfall, any day with more than 0.2 mm — can vary across the region.
The Gonzales and the University of Victoria weather stations recorded 24 days of rain in October with 107 mm and 127 mm of rain, respectively. The record number rainy days for Gonzales, which is in Walbran Park, near the Oak Bay-Victoria border, was 26 days in 1967.
Esquimalt Harbour saw only four days without rain and the Malahat stayed dry on just two days. Last year the Malahat and Gonzales stations recorded 16 days of rain and the University of Victoria 17 days of rain.
The wet October meant that many farms on the Saanich Peninsula were especially soggy for those out picking pumpkins.
Galey Farms typically hosts thousands of people for its annual Pumpkinfest. Paige Pedersen, an employee at Galey Farms, said some particularly dreary days were quieter than usual and there were a few weather-related cancellations from school groups. The pumpkin patch was a bit slippery, but the corn maze avoided any serious floods, she said.
“It was really great because you had groups who would come prepared and tear through the mud,” Pedersen said. “Most people were saying: ‘This is the West Coast experience.’ ”
Terry Michell of Michell Bros. farm said some crops, such as lettuce and celery, were lost due to flooding and he knows of neighbouring farms that said goodbye to carrots and beets.
Harvesting crews have put their rain gear on almost every day to pick crops, Michell said.
November, typically the rainiest month of the year on the West Coast, brings an average of 19 days of rain and 148 mm of precipitation to the airport station. “It will be quite wet in November, so I would keep the umbrella handy,” McDonald said.
