A snowy February, smoky summer and a green Christmas followed by heavy snowfall, 2018 will be a year to remember when it comes to the weather.
“In Williams Lake overall we had about a normal year for temperatures and a wetter than normal year for precipitation,” said Environment Canada meteorologist, Bobby Sekhon.
“It ranked as the sixteenth wettest year on record and it was about 12 percent more precipitation than what is normally had.”
Sekhon says most of the precipitation fell at the beginning of the year with February 2018 the fifth coldest and the most wettest February on record.
“There was an early February snowstorm where about a foot of snow fell in the Cariboo and then another 30 centimeters fell in Williams Lake between February 6th and 8th,” Sekhon said.
“Normally Williams Lake sees about 21 centimeters of snow in February, but in 2018 saw 85 centimeters so you can see a stark difference there.”
Moving into the spring and late summer, Sekhon says May 2018 was the warmest and seventh driest May on record.
“Fires started up around many parts of B.C. around May-June, and there were 40 percent more lightning strikes than normal across B.C. in the summer,” he said.
“The summer was also the second smokiest summer on record for Williams Lake only second to the 2017 summer.”
Sekhon adds that September 2018 was the fifth coldest and seventh wettest for Williams Lake with more snow than normal at the end of the month with about 3 centimeters. The normal for September is only 0.6 centimeters.
Although November and December ended up being warmer than normal, they were both wet months.
“November was also the seventh wettest on record and there was a lot more rain than usual,” Sekhon said.
“45.5 millimeters fell compared to the normal of 14.2 millimeters. Late December saw a snowstorm come through with 20 centimeters of snow for Williams lake to round out the year.”
Appearing to take a cue from 2018, Williams Lake smashed its’ 1993 record after having received 16.8 mm of precipitation on Thursday, Jan. 3.
You’ve seen the storm totals, but did you know we also BROKE DAILY RECORDS with that last #BCstorm system? Several Daily records for most snow and most precipitation shattered on Jan 2nd and 3rd. #Ucluelet established a new RAINIEST DAY EVER with 214.2 mm ! #bcWX #BCrain #BCsnow pic.twitter.com/2vzqeHpZmH
— ECCC Weather British Columbia (@ECCCWeatherBC) January 4, 2019