Written by MYRISSA KRENZLER
Citizen staff
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Friday, 18 July 2008 |
Prince George is well on its way to breaking its previous record for thunderstorms, according to Environment Canada.
As of Friday morning, Prince George has had eight days of thunderstorms, said meteorologist Doug Lundquist.
Last year, there were seven storms for the entire month, he said. The July average for storms is six.
Even though there has already been more thunderstorms than average, Lundquist said it's still too early to tell if Prince George will break its record of 11 set in 1957. "We'll really only know at the end of the month," he said. "(But) definitely we're not far from the record and the month is only half over."
Lundquist said Prince George is experiencing so many thunderstorms because high pressure fronts are moving into the interior from the Pacific Ocean and colliding with the warm ground and hot sun. He said the storms are dissipating before they reach the Southern Interior, causing hot, dry weather.
Even though the number of thunderstorms is high for this time of year, Lundquist said most of them aren't considered severe because there hasn't been enough time between storms to allow charges to build up in the ground.
Precipitation for this month has been about average, Lundquist said. As of Friday morning, 42.5-mm of rain had fallen, which is over half the monthly average of 63.5 mm. This is more than Vancouver, which has received 0.4-mm so far, which is considered a drought condition, he said.
Last month, Prince George received 39.5-mm of precipitation, down from the 72.7-mm average, Lundquist said.
According to Alan Chapman, head of the B.C. River Forecast Centre, the Nechako and Fraser River levels are average for this time of year. He said this is due to a cooler spring and late snow melt.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 September 2008 )
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