Driest January in 40 years with little rain

After months of rain hit B.C.’s South Coast in the fall, things have all but dried up for far this January.

“We’ve only seen just over 33 millimetres of precipitation for the month, that’s less than 20 per cent of normal,” explained 1130 NewsRadio meteorologist Michael Kuss. “And it looks like the driest January in Vancouver in 40 years. You have to go back to 1985 to find a drier one.”

Before this month, the region was inundated with rain, including an atmospheric river that caused widespread issues in October.

“The last four months have been right on average. From October to now, we’ve had 645 millimetres of precipitation. The average for the four-month stretch is 645 millimetres.”

Kuss says by this weekend and into next week, the region will be back into a wetter weather pattern.

Heidi Walsh, the director of Watersheds and Environment for the water utility at Metro Vancouver, says local water reservoir levels remain healthy, but the snowpack is a different story.

“Snowpack levels, as of January 1st, were about 73 per cent of normal … with the recent dry weather, we’re anticipating a reduction for our next snow survey on February 1st. There’s been very little new snow since January 10th. We’re near normal levels at the upper peaks, and where we’re lacking is that mid-level, a little lower down on the peaks,” Walsh explained.

But she doesn’t want people in the region to worry.

“We generally don’t see our snowpack peak until late April or early May, so we’ve got a long time to still accumulate some snow.”

Walsh warns that doesn’t mean people should become complacent, adding that the human-caused climate crisis continues to complicate things.

“I definitely think we can expect to see more of this. I think we’re seeing the changes in the climate every year. More intense storms in the fall and then more extended and hotter, drier summers. So, we are starting to see those trends in our weather data and our snowpack data,” she shared.

Despite the fact it’s still winter, she says now is the time to start implementing personal water conservation habits.

“We need to always treat our drinking water very thoughtfully all year long … that will get us through the dry summer and if we have a fall drought,” she explained.

“We need to make sure we’ve got enough water for drinking, cooking, cleaning — those are our primary concerns. So, certainly in the springtime and summer, just reducing that outdoor water use, taking shorter showers.”

Metro Vancouver has previously stated the average shower should be three to four minutes and says people in the Lower Mainland use about 1 billion litres of treated drinking water every day. That number can increase by more than 50 per cent in the summer.

(Courtesy Metro Vancouver Regional District)

“B.C. and our region are one of the higher water users in the Pacific Northwest, so there’s definitely some work to be done to make sure we’re conserving water.”

Walsh adds residents can also expect water restrictions to kick in once again on May 1.

With files from Michelle Meiklejohn.