Weather on Quadra Island
The temperate maritime climate of BC's west coast is typically mild with very distinct seasons.
Spring starts early by Canadian standards and by mid-March daffodils are showing a flash of colour and the days are nicely balanced with night. The thermometer fluctuates widely from a touch of overnight frost up to 15 C. Spring gradually warms through April and May with the forest and gardens bursting with life. Showers and sunshine are common. Spring is a time of many rainbows. Temperatures are around 15 to 22 C.
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 early summer 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 on a rare day. 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. No humidity!
Oh before going on to September and Indian summer it has to be added that although July and August can be hot and dry, it can rain at anytime!
So September, more often that not the very best month of the year. Days are cooler and getting shorter but so often calm. Just day after day of warm fall sunshine in cloudless sky. The ocean is like a mirror with not a whisper of wind, yet one isn't needed as there is no humidity and the temperatures comfortable at 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, could be in September or as late as early November when the autumn monsoons hit but whenever they start it pours with a vengance! Snow starts collecting in the mountains and temperatures start to drop to a wintery 5 to 10 C. When the sun does shine it feels pretty weak by December and beautiful fog hangs over the water on blue sky days. With new snow cloaking the mountains clear early winter days are beautiful.
And so winter passes with an unpredictable cycle of warm rain, cold soggy snow and clear dry periods of outflow weather when the temperatures can drop as low as -15 C with -5 common. The wind can 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. Just weather after weather.
