Alberniweather and Port Alberni Summary for January 2023
Story of January – A little boring.
Compared with the entire fall and December, January honestly seemed pretty boring in comparison. We were slightly above average for temperatures and below average for rainfall but not into the extremes. The Airport only marked one new record in its data with the strong rain total mid-month. Other than that, it was fairly quiet. This month’s graphs are after the annual summary.
La Niña’s influence will wane.
We remained firmly under the influence of La Niña conditions in January, however, after nearly 3 years the tide appears to be switching in a big way.
The January 12 Discussion states: (ENSO Discussion – NOAA Climate Prediction Center). “A transition from La Niña to ENSO-neutral is anticipated during the February-April 2023 season. By Northern Hemisphere spring (March-May 2023), the chance for ENSO-neutral is 82%.“
We’ll see if there are any indications of an El Niño before summer. It’s too soon to tell now.
Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice Low
It’s also worth noting that the National Snow and Ice Data Centre has been reporting that both the Northern and Southern ocean ice sheets are near unprecedented low levels. Here is an excerpt from their January 5 report:
Daily extent of Arctic sea ice for December 2022 remained well below average for the entire month; at the end of the month, extent stood at fourth lowest in the satellite record. The average extent for the month ended up as seventh lowest in the satellite record. Antarctic extent is declining much faster than average as austral summer takes hold and is setting record low daily ice extents for the satellite era as of December 22. As such, global sea ice extent is well below average.
December report NSIDC https://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2023/01/december-lows/
One can expect the jet stream to act in strange ways when sea ice is low in the Arctic. I wonder if the low ice in the Antarctic region contributed to the deadly extreme rainfall event in Auckland at the end of January. It seems quite plausible.
That’s all for now! Enjoy the data and graphs below!
Daily and All Time Day Records Set for the Month
Set at Airport* since 1994 and compared to other stations** since 1900
(1895 for rain, 1980 for snow on ground)
Just one precipitation record this month!
- Jan 12 – Precipitation 67.4 mm : Record is 88 mm at Lupsi Cups in 1968
This Month’s Graphs from Historic Alberni Valley Weather Stations
Temperature and Rainfall Graphs combining Environment Canada stations and Alberniweather.
Latest values on the far right, click to enlarge/download.
We were quite average.
This Month’s City Station Values Compared to Normal
Mean Min, Mean, and Mean Max Temperature,
Total Precipitation and Highest Wind
- Alberniweather: : 3.0º C, 4.9º C, 7.2º C, 121.9 mm*, NNE 51.5 kph on 4th
(Averages – Daily – CSV) - Maquinna Elem.: NA (No Data)
- Alberni Elem: NA (No Data)
- Dave’s Data: 2.9º C, 4.7º C, 6.9º C, 272.0 mm, 33.8 kph
This Month’s Average City Value
- City Stations: 3.0º C, 4.8º C, 7.0º C, 272.0 mm*, NNE 51.5 kph on 4th
*(using Dave’s as Alberniweather is undercounted) - Normal 1971-2000 (Prt Alb A (Somass)): -0.5º C, 2.1º C,4.6° C, 238.7 mm
Differences from Normal (1971-2000) in the City
+3.5° C, +2.7º C, +2.4º C, +34 mm (+114%)
This Month’s Average Airport Values
- Airport (Port Alberni AUT) : 1.6º C, 4.1º C, 6.6° C, 237.2 mm, ESE 59 kph on 4th
- Normal 1971-2000 (Rbrtsn Creek): -1.3º C, 1.2º C 3.7° C, 308.3 mm
Differences from Normal (1971-2000) at the Airport
+2.9° C, +2.9º C, +2.9º C, -71.0 mm (76.9%)
Normal Days of Precipitation at Airport (1971-2000)
- >= 0.2 mm: 20.3 : 23 This Month
- >= 5 mm: 12.6 : 12
- >= 10 mm: 9.7 : 7
- >= 25 mm: 4.2 : 2
* May have used backup Environment Canada Data source at WeatherStats.ca for Missing Data
** Short Term means since 1994 at the new AVRA Airport. Airport Records are compared to the 30+ year weather stations of record since 1900 (1895 for rain) at Beaver Creek, Port Alberni “City” and Robertson Creek. Note that records pre 1950 may be more likely to over-estimate high temperatures.
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