November rainfall broke records in several B.C. communities

A number of communities in B.C. broke or came very close to breaking monthly rainfall records in November, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).

The agency confirmed Wednesday that Abbotsford, B.C., had its wettest November ever, with 541 millimetres or more than half a metre of rain. The old record was set in 2006, with 422 millimetres.

"[It's a]huge departure from the previous record going back many, many years," said Armel Castellan, a warning-preparedness meteorologistwith ECCC.

The average amount of rain for Abbotsford in November is around 245 millimetres,meaning the city saw more than double its normal monthly total.

Four more cities saw well over their normal amount of rain for the month, including:

• Vancouver 312 millimetres (Normal average: 189 millimetres).
• Downtown Victoria 316 millimetres (Normal average: 153millimetres).
• Nanaimo359millimetres (Normal average: 197millimetres).
• Hope730 millimetres (Normal average: 344).

The rainfall wasn't quite enough to break monthly recordsbut came close for Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo.

These communitiesalso broke records for therainiest fall season, from September to November.

• Vancouver 612 millimetres. (Normal seasonal average: 364millimetres).
• Victoria 510 millimetres.(Normal seasonal average: 230millimetres).
• Nanaimo 620 millimetres.(Normal seasonal average: 342millimetres).
• Abbotsford 885 millimetres.(Normal seasonal average: 475millimetres).

Castellan said the agency is still crunching numbers to confirm more records that might have been broken. He said the storm from Nov. 13 to 15 was enough to break a number of daily records on its own.

"Without question, this has been a very active [rainy] streak since mid-September on the heels of an extremely dry and hot summer," Castellan said during a news conference on Wednesday.

"So, we have gone from some extremes to other extremes and, unfortunately, this is consistent with what climate changehas been projectedfor all parts of Canada.

"It's not to say that it's always going to be this extreme all the time.We will see lulls, of course, but the frequency, the amplitude of these events ... will continue to increase with the coming years and decades."

Squamish, Pitt Meadows andTofino alsoall saw more than 300 millimetres of rain, according to CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe.