The little blue raindrops in weather-forecast graphics showing rain early Monday in Metro Vancouver and Greater Victoria are nothing to get excited about, said Environment Canada meteorologist Johnson Zhong.
A few droplets may fall, but there will be no significant precipitation Monday morning, nor in the weeks and months to come.
Rain in the forecast over the next 24 hours in some other areas in B.C. also won’t be enough to provide relief from wildfires or alleviate dry conditions.
“It will be one to two millimetres,” said Zhong.
The long-range forecast for the province will continue to be drier than normal, explained Zhong, due to a ridge of high pressure that is holding over southern B.C., ensuring sunny skies and warm weather.
“It’s going to be dry for the next two months,” said Zhong.
A trough of low pressure will bring some showers and thunderstorms to the central interior, and northern British Columbia on Monday, said Zhong. The trough of low pressure will move across southern B.C. and bring showers to the southwestern, Columbia and Kootenay regions.
On Tuesday a strong ridge of high pressure will emerge, ensuring warm and dry conditions until Friday across B.C., with temperatures in the mid-to-high 20s in Metro Vancouver and Greater Victoria, and reaching the mid-30s in the Interior.
B.C. uses a six-level drought classification system, ranging from zero to five, to explain the severity and response levels to drought conditions.
Across the province, the northeast, Bulkley Lakes and east and west Vancouver Island are at drought Level 5 — the level at which adverse effects to eco- and socio-economic systems are considered certain — with much of the rest of B.C. at Level 4.
— With files from Tiffany Crawford and Times Colonist
