Quantcast
Gloomy grey reigns over January – Metro US

Gloomy grey reigns over January

It sounds like a contradiction in terms — one of the driest Januaries in years has also been one of the greyest.

For the past 18 days it’s looked more like the East Coast than the West Coast outside, and when the sun finally makes its expected return on Friday, it’ll be the most light we’ve had all month.

Lisa Coldwells, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said there’s only been 6.5 hours of bright sunshine in the Lower Mainland this month.

The January average is 60 hours of sunshine.

Another surprise, she added, is that despite all the fog, we didn’t break any records.

“The record year was 1985, when there were 21 days of fog,” said Coldwells. “So we came close.”

The unusual amount of haze was a result of a stagnant air mass that sat stubbornly over southern B.C. for more than two weeks.

“In January, we’d normally have Pacific systems moving in off the coast and a lot of movement of the air,” Coldwells said.

“We’re going to replace that (stagnant air) with cold arctic air draining down form the Yukon,” which she said will bring colder temperatures with sunny breaks, and possibly even flurries on Sunday.