It was close, but no cigar when it came to record-breaking weather in November.
Environment Canada said Thursday November was among the top five warmest on record with an average daily temperature of 7.8 degrees Celsius. The warmest November recorded was in 1917, which still tops the charts at 8.7 C for the month.
November is normally quite a bit chillier at an average of 5.6 C daily.
Armel Castellan, Environment Canada meteorologist, said an “atmospheric river” that brought warm, wet air from Hawaii contributed to the unusually warm month.
“It brought so much of that tropical moisture and warmth up from north of Hawaii,” Castellan said. “That really was the crux of setting November off on a very warm stint … and of course we’ve seen incessant rain throughout.”
In spite of heavy rain throughout the month, no daily records were broken and the month’s total rainfall of 214.7 millimetres was just under nine per cent more than normal. In fact, in spite of days with heavy downpours, no daily precipitation records were broken either.
“That’s probably a bit of a surprise for people across the South Coast because it feels like it’s been so rainy,” Castellan said. “I think it’s the cumulative effect of having had such and incredibly wet October, which looked like it could’ve been November and then we had a typical November and it just feels like it’s a continuation and non-stop.”
For those people whose backyards looked like ponds at the end of the month, an Arctic outflow expected to hit Monday could turn puddle surfaces into ice sheets when temperatures drop below freezing levels starting Sunday (Dec. 4).
“Possible flurries on Sunday night and much lower than normal temperatures,” Castellan said. “Where you normally see seven-degree highs, you might see zero or two degrees and then at night dropping down to minus-six, minus-five or so.”