Saturday's brief rainfall had little impact on the drought, but expert says wetter days are coming soon in Metro Vancouver
Metro Vancouver saw some rain showers Saturday morning, but according to Environment Canada, it’s not yet clear if it was enough to officially end the region’s 45-day streak without measurable rain.
“The measurement will have to go through quality control, and then a climatologist will have to decide if it counts toward the drought record or not,” said Meteorologist Jonathan Bau.
To register as measureable rain, the total must be 0.2 millimetres or greater. Bau says there were anywhere from trace amounts to 0.6 millimetres across Metro Vancouver Saturday, but the final call comes from the weather station at Vancouver International Airport.
The current record of 58 days without measurable rain at YVR was set back in 1951.
Whether it was measureable or not, Bau says Saturday’s rain won’t do much to reverse the sustained dry spell that has parched the region.
“The rain that we saw yesterday had fairly limited impact on the current drought,” he said.
Moving forward however, wetter days are on the way.
“There is a changing of the pattern towards the end of the week,” Bau said.
Significant rainfall could hit parts of southern B.C. as early as Friday, as a Pacific frontal system moves in, according to Bau.
“That will bring the first round of significant precipitation for the South Coast, Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley,” he said. “It will fill the reservoirs, wet the ground, and the soil can at least absorb some moisture,”
Bau says Environment Canada is expecting at least 10 to 15 millimetres to fall, in total, as the system moves through.
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