Normally in June the Robson Valley, in British Columbia’s Central Interior, gets mild temperatures with lots of showers moving through. Then in late July and early August the weather patterns change and the days get hotter and drier. Like most of North America’s West Coast this year, BC is experiencing hotter and drier conditions already thanks to the jet stream that seems to be locked in place. Many places also experienced those conditions through the winter, leaving them with very low snowpacks on the mountains. We have been getting afternoon temperatures of 27C (80 F), the average high for this time of year is 18C (64F).
Yesterday I heard on the radio that Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii (formally known as the Queen Charlotte Islands) are experiencing drought conditions even though they are coastal rainforests. We are fortunate that the snowfall that we received last winter left our mountain snowpacks normal, and so we now have a lot of water moving through our streams and rivers.
Because we get our water directly from Sunbeam Creek, which is now running hard with all the snowmelt from the mountains, we have plenty of water available to us. I am taking advantage of it by watering the garden, twice now within the last week. People who are dependent upon wells for their water and have to be careful and can’t afford to be so extravagant.
The long range forecast for the summer says it will continue to be hot and dry.
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