More rain fell on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in some areas of the capital region than fell in the entire month of August, said Environment Canada meteorologist Matt MacDonald.
Victoria airport registered 9.2 millimetres of rain during those three days and Gonzales received 8.4. By comparison, Victoria airport had 1.6 mm in August and Gonzales had 2 mm.
The current rainy weather, first predicted to last until the middle of the week, will likely now be with us until Saturday.
“I think the last showery day is actually Saturday, and then Sunday will be a kind of a transition day to a drier stretch,” MacDonald said.
There also has been a change in weather in other parts of the province, meaning that all of the wildfire smoke air-quality advisories issued for B.C. by Environment Canada are now over.
“Finally, a wholesale change in the weather pattern, I think, is welcomed by most,” MacDonald said.
He said capital region temperatures will remain below normal for a few more days.
“All week long we’re gradually climbing back up,” MacDonald said. “Normals for this time of year are highs of 19 and overnight lows of 10.”
He said there is nothing unusual about the rainy weather. It just got here earlier than it tends to.
“This cool, showery pattern is very typical of fall,” MacDonald said. “It’s arrived a few weeks ahead of schedule because the true start to fall is Sept. 22.”
The change to cloud and precipitation is nothing but good news for area farmers, said Jack Mar of Central Saanich. It was a different weather story in July and August, when hot temperatures had many different crops ripening more quickly than normal.
“It’s a godsend,” Mar said of the recent string of rainy days. “It wets things down and people don’t have to irrigate.
“This rain is really good for all the crops.”
In the Coastal Fire Centre, which includes Vancouver Island, changing weather has led to the campfire ban for Haida Gwaii being lifted, while the ban for the rest of the fire centre remains under review.
