The February forecast is out and Vancouver is going to LOVE the temperatures

After bone-chilling temperatures, record snowfall, and then storms, many Vancouverites are looking forward to a change ahead weather-wise from our incredibly stressful January here on the South Coast.

There’s some good news: February is almost here, and we got a look at what the month will have in store. If you hate shovelling snow, you’ll be quite happy to see the forecast for Metro Vancouver.

What will the weather be like in February in Vancouver?

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), overall, it will be above seasonal temperatures, which means we will stay above freezing in Vancouver.

For the next week, expect temperatures to possibly even break more warm weather records.

“In terms of Metro Vancouver, we are still in this very warm feed of air that’s coming up in the tropics. You know, with these systems that we described as atmospheric rivers, they bring a lot of moisture, they really also bring a lot of warm air sometimes,” said ECCC Meteorologist Alyssa Charbonneau.

February forecast across Canada shows a lot of BC will be feeling the heat. (ECCC)

But, it won’t be time to put the toques away just yet — it’s going to be a bit of a mixed bag for the next few weeks.

“What it looks like as we head into the beginning part of February is that it’s cooling off, and we’re going to be closer to seasonal conditions, at least for the beginning week of February,” Charbonneau explained.

“We aren’t seeing a major warm-up, and we aren’t seeing a major cooldown.”

A high of plus seven and a low of plus one would be seasonal.

Outside Metro Vancouver, parts of BC could see some cooler air for the first week of February.

February is typically a drier month than November, December, and January on BC’s South Coast. 104.6 millimetres is the average for February, and that’s less than what some areas saw over the weekend due to the atmospheric rivers.

“Our forecast beyond next week is trending once again warmer than normal,” Charbonneau said.

By the end of February, temperatures are likely going to creep up a bit more, meaning we likely won’t experience freezing temperatures in the double digits again in the near future.

Should we expect a warm March as well?

A look at the seasonal forecast for Canada through to April shows at 70% chance of above normal temperatures for Vancouver. (ECCC)

As we are in an El Niño year, Charbonneau says it’s expected to remain warmer than average.

“It doesn’t rule out the possibility of a colder stretch somewhere within this period. But it’s just on average, it does look like… it’s getting warmer than normal continues to be favored. And we’ve been seeing that trend in the forecast for a long time,” she said.

But in terms of precipitation, it’s really anyone’s guess. She says it’s very difficult to predict rainfall amounts two months ahead of time, and she notes that there have been dry El Niño years and wet El Niño years.

How concerning is it that we keep breaking temperature records?

“I think that the impacts on our snowpack here are concerning this winter. Especially [given that] we’ve seen a late start to building those snow packs, we are well below normal. Of course… for those of us on the south coast during this last week, we’ve seen really high freezing levels and a lot of melting of the snow that was there, and so that is going to potentially be a concern going into the spring from a drought perspective,” Charbonneau added.

“Dry conditions also raised concerns about what the coming wildfire season could be like, ” she said. “It is a concern, especially as last year’s wildfire season and last year’s drought are so fresh in our minds.”