Hoping for sunshine
By Boundary Sentinel
By: Mona Mattei and Erin Perkins
While Grand Forks is the soggiest it’s been in over five years and may be establishing a record for precipitation, sunny skies are on the way and soon.
Grand Forks residents woke today to thunder, hail and even snow on the road to the Paulson. Local gardens have been struggling in the wet weather, and the hail has taken its toll now too.
Although they don’t have a weather station in Grand Forks, the area is likely at an all time high said Doug Lundquist, Environment Canada meteorologist. Lundquist based his comments on neighbouring areas like the Nelson and Castlegar regions which saw 228 millimetres (mm) of precipitation in June – three and a half times more rain than the region usually experiences.
But the “monsoon season” of the B.C. Interior will soon be over, said Lundquist. The local rainy season is typically between May 15 and Jul. 7 and will be “transitioning very quickly,” he added.
“By the end of the week we’ll be into the mid-30s,” he said, with less extensive wide-spread rains. “June is typically wet and then when you get record precipitation it feels even wetter.”
The City of Grand Forks monitors weather at their station atop city hall, and their statistics indicate this is the wettest season in five years. In June alone Grand Forks had 159.6 mm of rain –triple the average over the past four years of 49 mm.
The total precipitation for 2012 as of today is 367 mm, already exceeding the usual five-year annual total average of 309.4 mm.
While the rain may be over in a week, the severe thunderstorms may not be. The excessive moisture coupled with the predicted rise in temperatures will make for an increase in storm activity, said Lundquist.
So best be prepared for ongoing attacks of weather as the Boundary moves into summer, one day at a time.
