Last month was the sunniest June in Victoria weather history.
It began with a trio of all-time temperature records on the second, third and fourth — 30.4, 31.3 and 30.9 C — and the sun just kept on shining. In the end, there were 335 hours of sun, breaking the old record of 330.1 set just six years ago in 2003.
The typical number of hours of sunshine in June is closer to 250. “That was a bright month,” said Anne McCarthy of Environment Canada’s Victoria weather office. “It was certainly an atypical June.”
In the past, June has been a month where people tend to wonder when summer will arrive, but not this year. While it wasn’t record-breaking in terms of total warmth, June’s mean monthly temperature of 16.3 does rank fourth in the record book — and is well above the monthly norm of 14.4.
Rain — or lack of it — also figures highly in the June weather review. Last month was the fourth-driest June on record, with only six millimetres of precipitation, far below the norm of 32 mm.
McCarthy said the year so far has been dry in general. “We’re halfway through the year and we’re 40 per cent under normal.”
In an average year, the precipitation level to date would be 435.2 mm, but the Victoria area has recorded only 268.2 mm so far. McCarthy said the 30day forecast for July is for the weather to continue with above normal temperatures across most of Vancouver Island.
The hot, dry weather hasn’t had a big effect on the forest-fire situation so far, but crews are on standby, said Alyson Couch, fire-information officer for B.C.’s Wildfire Management Branch.