No, it isn't your imagination: Vancouver has seen an extremely wet January.
January is typically the second wettest month of the year in the city, but this year has been exceptionally dismal. For one, Vancouver received a staggering 34 cm of snowfall in five days earlier this month. In addition to ideal snow-making conditions, the cold arctic air brought some chilling lows. In fact, the City of Vancouver saw temperatures dip down to minus seven or lower, with the wind chill factor making temperatures feel decidedly frigid.
And while temperatures have warmed up substantially over the past few days, Vancouver saw its 22nd consecutive January day with precipitation. According to @YVR_Weather, this puts this run in fifth place for the longest run of precipitation in January.
Today is #Vancouver's 22nd consecutive January day with precipitation which puts this run in 5th place for the longest run on record. #YvrWx pic.twitter.com/8FkmN1R0mb
— Vancouver Weather Records (@YVR__Weather) January 31, 2020
Vancouver Is Awesome spoke to Matt MacDonald, Meteorologist, Environment Canada, who explained that January has only seen one dry day over the course of the entire month.
"Some days have only seen a trace amount of precipitation, but there have been very wet days," he explained. "As of 2 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31, YVR has received 245 mm of rainfall."
"To put that in perspective, an average January receives 158 mm of rainfall. Vancouver has seen 55% more rainfall than the historical average, and there are still 10 more hours left in the day. We could still get another 20 or 30 mm."
With this in mind, MacDonald notes that this hasn't been the wettest January on record. In 1935, the city saw an impressive 337 mm. Right now, January 2020 is the seventh wettest on record. However, January 2005 had 249.6 mm, and January 2018 had 249.4 mm, and they sit in sixth and fifth, respectively.
"We could easily pass those months by the end of the day," highlights MacDonald. "We could even pass January 1958 which received 260.6 mm of rainfall and sits in fourth place."
Environment Canada is calling for sunshine on Saturday, Feb. 1 followed by a chance of snowfall on Sunday, Feb. 2.
