The monitoring station at Nanaimo Airport hasn't registered a drop of rain in 35 days, making it the longest stretch without precipitation in recorded history. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

DRY DRY DRY

Nanaimo sets new drought record, 35 days and counting without rain

Jul 20, 2021 | 4:48 PM

NANAIMO — The region missed out on a new high temperature record during an historic heatwave, but the summer of 2021 has still proven to be record setting.

Wednesday, July 21 will mark 35 bone-dry days since 4.4 millimetres of rain was recorded at Nanaimo Airport on June 15. It’s the longest stretch without showers since June 28 to July 31, 2013, a record which spans over 100 years of monitoring.

Doug Lundquist, meteorologist with Environment Canada, told NanaimoNewsNOW outside of a small chance of showers in the morning of Wednesday, July 21 there isn’t much else on the radar.

“There is an upper low system northwest of us that’s dropping down our way that’s giving us a little more instability but a 30 per cent chance of showers isn’t a lot so it might just miss the Nanaimo Airport. If we make it through here, we’ll just keep racking up days to make the record harder to break next time.”

The two other major monitoring stations on Vancouver Island, in Victoria and the Comox Valley, both have another week before they could potentially break drought records.

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Unseasonably warm conditions were part of Environment Canada’s long term forecast for the spring, however the extreme nature of the heat and a lack of rain has surprised them.

“Precipitation is difficult to forecast beyond 10 days, so it’s not something we would forecast,” Lundquist said.

“That being said, the heat and ongoing warmer weather we’ve had is something we did expect. When I look at the forecast for the next week, the coolest days are basically just our normal (for this time of year).”

Water restrictions are at stage three or four across the City and Regional District of Nanaimo, with the provincial monitoring of drought levels placing eastern Vancouver Island at the second highest mark possible.

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