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Meteorological Conditions September 1st through 14th, 2014
Meteorological Conditions September 1st through 14th, 2014
Data used was gathered from Tofino Airport provided by the Government of Canada website here. The gaps in the data were due to sampling times only occurring between 5 am and 5 pm
Trends in the temperature map show that days with higher temperature ranges reflect days with less cloud cover.
Pressure was highest at the sunniest days of sampling. The pressure fluctuated between 1,007 to 1,024 mb throughout the two-week sampling period.
Wind speed varied throughout the days generally starting low and increasing throughout the day reflecting onshore land/sea breeze. Wind speed was highest on the 11th at 30 km/h where temperature also began to increase.
Wind direction varied throughout the days but slowly rotates clockwise from morning to night, again reflecting an onshore breeze up inlet as the land heats up and air rises in the afternoon. The majority of the winds were above 120 degrees and most frequently around 200 degrees
Average Climatological Conditions of 1981-2013 vs 2014
Average Climatological Conditions of 1981-2013 vs 2014
Average temperatures of the 30-year data compared with the 2014 data show that the 2014 temperatures were higher than the 30-year data but no more than 3 degrees Celsius in any month. The 2014 minimum and maximum temperatures were more extreme than the 30-year data. The coldest months of 2014, December through March, differ up to 5 degrees Celsius from 2014 minimums compared to the 30-year minimums. When comparing monthly maximum temperatures, the warmest months for the 30-year data are consecutive, July through September. The warmest months in 2014 are also July through September but there is a temperature spike in May that is almost 10 degrees Celsius warmer than the 30-year maximum temperatures in May.
2014 data available from the Canadian Government here and 30-year data from here.
Average precipitation in the 30-year data and 2014 are relatively similar. Overall, there was slightly less rain in 2014. Precipitation for both data sets was highest in November through January and the lowest precipitation was June through August. The most variation between data sets was in January and February, where 2014 had 9 mm less precipitation than the 30-year period. 2014 data available from the Canadian Government here and 30-year data from here.
Tofino Creek Daily Discharge (m3/sec) 2014
Tofino Creek Daily Discharge (m3/sec) 2014
Coastal Oceanographic Data
Coastal Oceanographic Data
Atmospheric conditions on the Clayoquot Sound coast during our sampling period. This data was taken from buoy 46206 in the La Perouse Bank.
Atmospheric conditions on the Clayoquot Sound coast during our sampling period. This data was taken from buoy 46206 in the La Perouse Bank.
Coastal sea conditions on the four sampling days (Sept-9 to Sept-12) can give insight into what the Sound was like during that time. Atmospheric pressure, wind speed, and direction,as well as sea surface temperature were obtained from an NDBC buoy on the shelf to show the conditions in the region. Ocean conditions are affected by atmospheric forcing such as high levels of precipitation as well as local and regional wind systems, and the overall climate of the Northeast Pacific region.
Atmospheric pressure increased slightly from the first day of sampling to the last while wind speed was also steady throughout this period. Sea surface temperature fluctuated right before sampling days then during sampling it stayed relatively constant.
Wind direction tables showing hourly direction in cardinal points on each sampling day.
Historical Lighthouse Data
Historical Lighthouse Data
Amphirite lighthouse is the closest lighthouse to Clayoquot Sound and below are the climatic averages for sea surface temperature and salinity from 1956 to 1991 with the 2014 averages superimposed for comparison.
The sea surface temperature in 2014 was warmer than the 35-year average in May, then during the Spring Transition when winds switch direction and upwelling is favored the nearshore ocean got cooler. Once upwelling stopped during the Fall Transition "the Blob" brought in warmer and saltier water that came onto the coast in fall of 2014, specifically into Tofino and Bedwell Inlets.
Tidal Conditions 2014 - September 8th through 12th
Tidal Conditions 2014 - September 8th through 12th
Tidal conditions captured from three BC Canadian tidal gauges (#8637, #8615, #8623) https://www.sailwx.info/tides/tidemap.phtml
Tides in Clayoquot Sound are typically mixed-semidiurnal. However, while samples were collected, tides around the sound behaved in a more semidiurnal manner, having relatively even high tides and low tides. Based on data collected from three tide located in the map below, high tides remained at just below 4 meters on the coast and around 4.5 meters inland, where as low tides remained around .75 meters on the coast and inland. This reflects high amounts of tidal flushing.
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