May 2023 was certainly warm but was it the lower Coast's driest May yet? According to Environment Canada data, no.
The driest May in the past 15 years was in 2015, when just 0.6 mm of precipitation fell at the Gower Point Road weather station in Gibsons. The Sechelt weather station saw 5.8 mm that year.
The next driest May in the past decade and a half was in 2018, when 3.8 mm fell at the Gibsons weather station and 9.8 mm fell in Sechelt. In third place is May 2023, when 23 mm fell in Sechelt and 17.8 mm fell in Gibsons.
However, May 2023 was hot. Temperatures soared to a record-breaking 28.5 C at the Gibsons weather station on May 14 and the mean temperature average was 15.7C – a good degree and a half warmer than in 2015, when it was 14.1C.
