A dry summer and warmer-than-average fall did not help to alleviate an ongoing level two drought in the northeast.
This level, ranked based on severity up to level five, was assigned by B.C.’s Ministry of Water Land and Resource Stewardship. The water management branch lasted ranked the Peace in October, ahead of its first snowfall. In the fall, the northeast was warmer and drier than usual, according to data provided by Environment Canada.
Chetwynd and Fort Nelson were warmer all three months by around three degrees Celsius, on average.
“What mostly jumped out was the extended summer that we had and it was the warmest September on record for Chetwynd and Fort St John – and the second warmest for Fort Nelson,” said Bobby Sekhon, the warning preparedness meteorologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada. “That came along with some dry conditions.”
In the south Peace, average daily temperatures reached up to 13.5 C, compared to the average of around 10 C for the first month of fall. Fort St John was four degrees warmer than average, and Fort Nelson was 3.7 C. The Peace region was also drier than usual, with 53.9 per cent of the normal amount of rainfall reported from Chetwynd and 19.6 per cent of normal total precipitation in September reported from the north.
Heat and dryness, as well as “insufficient snow accumulation” can bring drought conditions, according to Emergency Info B.C. The resource said these conditions could lead to an increased risk of wildfires and negatively impact crops.
“As we got into October, things started to normalize a little bit more. It was still a little bit warmer, but there was a bit more precipitation,” said the meteorologist.
Chetwynd, Fort St John, and Fort Nelson were once again warmer than average, though each was by less than three degrees. In October, the Peace saw more precipitation than usual, with 35 millimetres reported from the south and 38 reported from the north. Fort Nelson, however, saw less than half of its average 24.5 millimetres.
By November, northeastern B.C. was back on track for the most part. Chetwynd’s average daily temperature was –2 C, compared to its usual –5 C for the month, according to the federal climate tracker. Fort St John was slightly closer to seasonal, with its mean temperature reported as around –4. Both cities were drier than usual.
In the Northern Rockies, it was warmer than the average temperature of almost –12 C. Environment Canada said November saw –9.3 C temperatures and 95.7 per cent of the usual precipitation.
“Models here for January, February, (and) March are still indicating cooler conditions for northern B.C. With precipitation, it’s hard to say,” said Sekhon. He explained it is too early for the forecast to be completely accurate, but for now, it says to expect it to be “wetter than normal, but that comes with a high degree of uncertainty.”
Temperature and precipitation data for December was not available from Environment Canada at the time of publication.
