The snow on Dec. 20, 2022 was almost too much for this little guy, as he tried to make his way down an Irwin St. sidewalk. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

wet and cold

Ninth coldest December on record for Nanaimo amid pair of winter storms

Jan 4, 2023 | 5:13 AM

NANAIMO — It was a cool and wet way to end 2022, with a pair of winter storms wreaking havoc travel-wise for much of Vancouver Island and the mainland.

Meteorologist with Environment Canada Bobby Sekhon said the month started off cool, but it was during the second half when things started to get really cold in the Harbour City.

When the calendar officially flipped to 2023, the region was about two and a half degrees below average for monthly mean temperatures.

“On the 22nd we got down to a temperature of -15.6 (degrees Celsius), which broke the previous record of -13, so definitely some really cold days in the month of December.”

It officially made December 2022 the ninth coldest on record for Nanaimo.

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While December’s precipitation numbers for Nanaimo were not available, Sekhon said some parts of the Island received almost as much snow in the month as they do for the entire winter.

Significant snowfalls came twice in Nanaimo, including in excess of 30 centimetres the week before Christmas.

“Normally in the month of December Comox receives a total snowfall of about 19 centimetres, now this past December Comox received about 44 centimetres of snowfall. That almost approaching the annual average of 55. That’s quite a bit of snow for the month of December.”

He said winter seemed to start earlier than usual this year, with cold Arctic air starting at the end of November and continuing strong for much of the month until around Christmas time for much of the island.

“It started early and it definitely carried on through December. Places like Victoria were wet and cold as well, and that was really the theme for the whole island was just a wet and cold month.”

Victoria also set a new record for the lowest minimum temperature of -8.4 degrees on Dec. 22, barely squeaking below their old record of -8.3 degrees.

Looking deeper into January, Sekhon said the wind might start to pick up by the end of this week with similar systems expected for the rest of the month.

“Thursday/Friday we pick up a more active storm cycle, and that’s when we can see some moderate rainfall come through the Nanaimo area. We’re still waiting to see how much rainfall, but really the winds are going to kick up. Gusts up to 50-60 kilometres an hour on Wednesday evening or even on Thursday evening, that’s something you can expect.”

With rain forecasted into next week, it appears the weather for the mid-Island is back to a regular seasonal pattern, for now.

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow