The Cowichan Valley has received five paltry millimetres of precipitation in the last two months, but a change in weather patterns is expected to bring the rain.
July and August are the driest months of the year on eastern Vancouver Island, but the five millimetres was a little more than ten per cent of the seasonal rainfall averages.
With the bone-dry conditions, Environment Canada Meteorologist Matt MacDonald said flooding is not a concern, however, something else is.
“What is more of a concern is all the pollutants that are going to run off with this new rain,” said MacDonald. “Following any prolonged dry stretch, these pollutants tend to accumulate on the surface and with the first rain, it washes out to sea.”
MacDonald said, “I’d be wary of going swimming over the weekend and from a fisheries perspective, a lot of those shellfish end up picking up those toxins.”
For a shellfishing guide, click here.
MacDonald said between 20 and 30 millimetres are expected to fall this weekend, far more accumulation then we’ve seen all summer.
