One of the greatest things about Quadra Island is the mild, temperate west coast climate.
An early spring will bring the first flowers by mid-March. The mercury may swing from an overnight frost under clear skies up to 15 C with the rainy 'Pineapple Express' storms. Temperatures gradually warm through April and May with the forest and gardens glowing in all hues of green and blooms in perfusion. Showers, sunshine and rainbows are common.
June can go either way. There have been some legendarily rainy Junes, but equally this month can be a blast of gorgeous early summer. Either 17 C and raining or 26 C and brilliant sunshine.
July and August are when summer really has its say. Temperatures stay steadily above 25 C and will occassionally hit 30 C or even 35 C. These are the days when Quadra's island nature are a blessing. Temperatures are always 5 C cooler by or on the ocean (but watch the u.v. and keep sunscreen and hats at hand) and the nights are often kept fresh with a soft and calming breeze.
September, is more often that not, the very best month of the year. Days are warm and often calm. Picture day after day of golden fall sunshine in a cloudless sky! Temperatures are a comfortable 18-24 C. If luck is in this stretch of weather can linger into mid-October but by then the nights are getting chilly with possibility of frost and always a heavy dew.
At some point the rains return, with luck as late as early November. But whenever the rain arrives it pours with a vengance! Snow starts collecting in the mountains and temperatures start to drop to a wintery 5 to 0 C or colder. When the sun does shine it feels pretty weak by December and on clear days a mysterious fog hangs over the water. With new snow cloaking the mountains the early winter days are beautiful.
And so winter passes through January and February with a cycle of warm rainy wind storms, occassionally snow and periods of clear cold ' outflow' weather when the temperatures can drop as low as -10 C for days or weeks at a time. The wind may howl up to hurricane force with frequent power outages and cancelled ferry sailings. But following one or several such storms it can easily slip into a long period of calm weather, with cloud or sunshine. Eventually spring returns as March arrives bringing flowers, showers with smiles and sunshine.
Month |
Mean Max Temp |
Mean Temp |
Mean Min Temp |
Extr Max Temp |
Extr Min Temp |
Total Rain |
Total Snow |
Total Precip |
||
| Jan | 7.5 | 5.0 | 2.4 | 11.5 | -0.5 | 360.8 | 0 | 360.8 | ||
| Feb | 6.5 | 2.8 | -0.9 | 10.0 | -5.0 | 118.3 | 9.7 | 128.0 | ||
| Mar | 8.7 | 5.5 | 2.2 | 13.0 | -2.0 | 192.0 | trace | 192.9 | ||
| Apr | 12.8 | 8.8 | 4.8 | 21.0 | 0.0 | 61.1 | 0.0 | 61.1 | ||
| May | 18.0 | 13.0 | 8.0 | 27.0 | 2.0 | 34.7 | 0.0 | 34.7 | ||
| Jun | 21.7 | 16.5 | 11.2 | 29.5 | 7.5 | 13.4 | 0.0 | 13.4 | ||
| Jul | 23.5 | 18.2 | 13.1 | 32.5 | 10.0 | 41.6 | 0.0 | 41.06 | ||
| Aug | 23.2 | 17.2 | 11.1 | 28.0 | 8.5 | 6.3 | 0.0 | 41.6 | ||
| Sep | 20.3 | 15.3 | 10.2 | 28.5 | 7.5 | 66.4 | 0.0 | 66.4 | ||
| Oct | 12.9 | 9.3 | 5.7 | 19.5 | -2.5 | 108.7 | 0.0 | 108.7 | ||
| Nov | 7.0 | 4.4 | 1.8 | 13.5 | -9.5 | 377.0 | 33.4 | 410.4 | ||
| Dec | 6.3 | 4.7 | 2.6 | 10.0 | -2.0 | 268.9 | 12.4 | 281.3 | ||
| Sum | 1650.1 | 55.5 | 1705.6 | |||||||
| Avg | 14.0 | 10.0 | 6.0 | |||||||
| Xtrm | 32.5 | -9.5 | ||||||||
Temperatures in degrees Centigrade (Celcius) Precipitation in Millimetres
A PDF of weather statistics from 1994 to 2009 is available here.