Abbotsford's Climate
Temperature
WinterAveraging around 2.5° C in January and February, Abbotsford's winters are cool, but relatively mild compared to most of Canada. However, because fall and winter are typically overcast and damp, it does not feel as comfortable as one might think.
The coldest month on record at Abbotsford International Airport is January 1950, with a mean temperature of -8.6° C (an average high of -4.7° C and an average low of -12.4° C). It was during this time that Abbotsford also set its all-time record low temperature of -21.1° C, on the 18th of that month.
Summer
Summers in Abbotsford are relatively warm compared to Vancouver, and can become quite hot on occasion. The average daily high in August is 23.8° C, but temperatures over 30° C are not uncommon. The highest temperature ever recorded was 37.9° C on July 11th, 2007, surpassing the previous record, set on July 27th, 1958, by just 0.1° C.
Precipitation
According to Environment Canada, Abbotsford is the fourth wettest out of 100 major cities in Canada, with 1573.16 mm of combined rain and snow. Perhaps surprisingly, Vancouver is in 16th place.Rainfall
Despite recording 1507.5 mm of rainfall per year, Abbotsford averages just 177 days per year with measurable precipitation, and 285.57 days with measurable sunshine. The reason for this is that summers are generally quite dry, with rain falling only sporadically. August averages only 20.46% of the amount of rain recorded in November. In fact, only 16.16% of annual precipation falls between June 1st and October 1st. Conversely, from October until March, it is not uncommon to have 20 consecutive days with some amount of rain. A weather pattern known as the Pineapple Express often brings rainstorms in autumn, and they can be quite significant.
Thunderstorms are rare, with as few as one or two to about eight occurring through the year, as the Pacific Ocean (and the Strait of Georgia which funnels into the Pacific) does not get warm enough to produce the conditions needed. Sometimes accompanied by hail, they tend to occur more often in spring and autumn than in the summer. Spring and autumn are usually showery and cool.
Snowfall
Snow occurs frequently in the surrounding mountains, but less often closer to sea level. There is a general misconception by visitors and residents in other parts of the country that the area does not receive any snow at all, but the truth is that Abbotsford averages 63.5 cm of snow per year, and there has never been a winter when traceable snow has not been observed at Abbotsford International Airport (or at Vancouver International Airport, for that matter). As a matter of fact, Environment Canada currently ranks Abbotsford 44th and Vancouver 59th under the category of "Most huge snowfall days (25 cm or more)" among 100 major Canadian cities, placing them above cities such as Calgary (74th place) and Toronto (99th place).
Snow in Abbotsford tends to be quite wet, which combined with typical winter temperatures rising above and falling below freezing throughout the course of the day, can make for unusually slippery road conditions. Years or even months with snowfall surpassing the 100 cm mark are also not completely exceptional; the former occurred twice in the 1990s, while January of 1954 saw more than 140 cm of snow. Snow has in fact accumulated in all months except for June, July and August.
Snowfall amounts tend to very greatly by season. During the winter of 1990-1991, 152.3 cm fell; the next winter, only a trace of snow was recorded. In 1996, 199.2 cm (over six feet) was recorded; the next year, only 6.2 cm fell. Serious snow storms occurred most recently in November 2006, when 30 to 60 cm of snow accumulated across the region in a period of 24 hours.
Snowfall Records for Abbotsford International Airport
Snowiest Year: 213.3 cm (1971)
Snowiest Month: 140 cm (January 1954)*
*In comparison, Toronto's snowiest January was 118.4 cm in 1999.
Extreme Daily Snowfall: 49.8 cm (January 21st, 1954)
Highest Snow Depth: 69 cm (December 30th, 1996)
Due to the variable nature of winter snowfall, Abbotsford budgets very little towards snow and ice removal. Depending on the severity of the winter, very little of the budget may be spent, with as much as double or more during a harsh winter.
Wind
According to Environment Canada, Abbotsford has the second lowest average year round wind speed of 100 major Canadian cities. Indeed, winds are often calm or very light for days and even weeks during summertime. In spite of this, windstorms are not uncommon, and in fact frequent, during fall and winter. Winds most frequently blow from the north from October through March, and from the south April through September. The strongest winds typically come from the south, with 10 out of 12 monthly maximum wind records coming from that direction.Abbotsford is also subject to a phenomenon known as "Arctic Outflow", whereby arctic high pressure in the interior of British Columbia interacts with low pressure over the Pacific ocean. The resulting pressure difference (also known as a pressure gradient) causes wind to rush down the Lower Fraser Valley toward the coast. These strong northeasterly winds often bring high windchills and cold temperatures, as well as blowing snow. A typical winter features between one and three arctic outflow events, each of which may last for anywhere from a few days to a week or longer.
Sun Rise/Set
Winters in Abbotsford can be dark, as the sky during this time is often covered with low-altitude grey clouds and the relatively high latitude means early sunsets (as early as 4:15 PM) and late sunrises (as late as 8:05 AM).For a few nights near the summer solstice, there are less than 7.5 hours between sunset and sunrise, twilight lasts past 10 PM, and the northern sky remains slightly lit by the sun all night long.
Miscellaneous Info
Eearly blooming plants will begin to sprout in late February, while some trees begin to bud in March. Most trees are fully leafed by mid May.
Grass-cutting season usually begins in late March or early April and continues until late October. As summers are often quite dry, unwatered grass may not need to be cut for over a month. Some summers may have no rain for five weeks or more, while others might have several very wet days in a row.
Recent Unusual Weather
In November of 2006, Abbotsford experienced abnormal levels of rainfall, snowfall, and wind. By the end of the month, 363.9 mm of rain had been recorded, and severe windstorms damaged homes and infrastructure, causing power outages and water contamination affecting 2 million people in the Lower Mainland. Cafes, restaurants and local businesses were ordered to stop serving drinks due to the heavy rains washing sediments into the area's water reservoirs. To make matters worse, 53.5 cm of snow was recorded at Abbotsford International Airport from the night of November 25th to the morning of November 27th. After the snow storm, the temperature dropped to -11.6° C on November 29th (in comparison, the daytime high for that day in Toronto was 16.1° C). Then, on the night of November 29th, 8 cm more snow fell on the city. Whether this weather anomaly was a result of global warming remains undetermined.Global Warming
The effects of global warming are one explanation for changes in Abbotsford's climate over the past 50 years. Climate scientists predict that the impact will be most evident during the winter season, with increasing temperatures producing wetter winters. Abbotsford's mean annual temperature has risen approximately 1.5° C since 1945. A factor that could account for at least a portion this change is the increase in heat produced by buildings in the city and surrounding areas, known as the Urban Heat Island Effect.A number of scientific studies have linked extreme weather patterns to Global Warming.