The rain

Today is the first day in 38 days there are has been an real rain in my neighbourhood.     In fact this summer is the driest one we have seen since the UVic weather network set up a station at Tillicum Elementary in 2005.  Oddly enough, since April, 2011 has been the coolest year since their records started - about 2 degrees below the norm in June and July.

As of writing this, there has been 6.3 mm of rain today, though it is still falling.

The amount of rain in millimeters from June 1st to August 21st at Tillicum Elementary

• 2011 18.7
• 2010 22.8
• 2009 46.4 - half of that was one day in August
• 2008 26.6
• 2007 61.6
• 2006 27.5
• 2005 47.5

As you can see, until today, this has been the driest summer going.   We need a few more hours of rain to make the summer of 2011 not as dry as 2006.   The average amount rain we had over the last six years in this neighbourhood in the summer (June 1 - August 1) is 45.75mm.   It would take a very wet week for this number to be reached and the forecast is calling for sunny weather tomorrow.

For the record, the average amount of annual rain in the last five years has been 660.8mm, or a bit more than 2 feet.   This certainly means this neighbourhood, and I suspect most of the city, is actually wetter than I had always been lead to believe.   I think we may get more rain than where I grew up, Tsawwasen, though environment Canada figures are higher than I realized.

I wonder what the impact of a summer with only about half the normal rain has on our resevoirs?