The West Kootenay received only about half the normal amount of rain last month, while the average temperature was 2.2 degrees above average.
According to a monthly roundup of weather stats from forecaster Jesse Ellis at the Southeast Fire Centre’s weather office at the airport in Castlegar, a strong upper ridge from the west arrived near the end of the month, bringing hot and sunny conditions. Tree new daily record highs were either tied or broken on the 27th (38.4 degrees), 28th (39.5) and 29th (39).
It also reached 39.5 degrees on the last day of the month, but that fell short of the record for that day. The all-time hottest temperature for the month in Castlegar was 41.8 degrees, set on July 1, 2021.
The lowest temperature of the month was 9.6 on the 14th, compared to the all-time record of 4.1 set on July 3, 1979.
The mean temperature was 22.4, both a few degrees warmer than the normal of 20.2 and a few degrees cooler than the record of 24.7 set last year.
As far as precipitation, Ellis said an upper trough stalled over the west coast for the first 10 days of the month sent showers and thundershowers. Except for a small amount of rain on the 18th, the entire month’s rainfall came in the first 10 days. The total was 23.8 millimeters, a little less than 50 per cent of the normal of 48.1 millimeters.
The driest month July on record was 1985, when there was virtually no rain, while the rainiest was 1998, when 143.2 millimeters fell.