May sees three consecutive record high temperatures
Last month was hot enough to set three consecutive records for highest temperature at Castlegar’s West Kootenay Boundary Regional Airport, according to Ron Lakeman at the Southeast Fire Centre Weather Services.
“An upper ridge of high pressure was the dominant feature for dry, fairly sunny and times very warm conditions during the initial 24 days of the month,” Lakeman said. “Record daily maximum temperatures of 27.9, 30.3 and 31.7 degrees were set on the 20th, 21st and 22nd respectively.”
He also said the mean monthly temperature was 1.9 degrees warmer than normal.
“It was the warmest May since 1998,” he added. “The monthly rainfall was only 55 per cent of normal. (making it) the driest May since 2007.Showers and thundershowers were more prevalent during the final week of the month as a few Pacific disturbances pushed across southeastern BC. Seventy-seven per cent of the month’s total precipitation fell between the night of the 24th and the morning of the 31st.”