If you felt well-baked after the heat this august that makes sense.
While it ended on a cooler note than it started, the average temperature throughout August was 19.1 C. That's averaging days and nights. The normal for August is 18 C, a full degree and a bit cooler.
"It ranks fifth with records going back to 1896," says Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Sekhon.
He notes that while people may remember the extreme heat of June and July more clearly, August also had a heatwave. There was also a record set, in the middle of the month.
"We set a highest temperature record on the 13th of August," he tells Vancouver is Awesome. "That was 28.9 C, the previous extreme was 27.6 C in 2010."
Even though it was the fifth hottest August with records going back over 125 years, it wasn't the hottest in recent memory. Tied for hottest August ever is 2017 and 2004 at 19.3 C, while tied below that at 19.2 C is 2013 and 2014; five of the hottest Augusts ever have been in the last 20 years. 1998 and 1967 also topped out at 19.1 C.
Despite a long dry stretch this summer, August wasn't too slow on showers, with 94 per cent of the usual precipitation. Normally 37 mm falls in August, 2021 saw 35 mm over the same period. However, most of that (22 mm) fell on Aug. 7.
Meanwhile, Abbotsford only saw 22 mm of precipitation, when the average for August is 46 mm. Sekhon says this inconsistency can happen with certain weather patterns.
"When it's this time of the year where precipitation is often driven by cells of showers, then you can have those discrepancies," he explains.
Overall this Vancouver summer ranked second hottest ever, as meteorological summer ends along with August.
Over the next little while, Sekhon says the late August pattern will continue for a bit the weekend starting wet but clearing up later on Sunday and throughout Monday.
