Yellowknife got 114 mm of rain in June. How much is that?

Yellowknife is reported to have endured its wettest June in 76 years of records.

Environment Canada meteorologist Dan Kulak told the CBC 114 millimetres of rain fell on the city, compared to an average of 29 mm for the month of June in Yellowknife.

Kulak told the broadcaster Yellowknife’s 114 mm total would be more like the usual average for the three months of June, July, and August.

Inuvik, by contrast, had its seventh driest June on record according to Kulak, with 3.5 mm of rain.

iPhone size

Yellowknife is hardly known as a rainy city. On average, 119 days in any given year – roughly a third of the time – Yellowknife residents will experience some kind of precipitation, for an average total of 288.6 mm of precipitation (rain and snow).

In terms of rain alone, excluding snow, Yellowknife gets 170.7 mm per year on average. In other words, June 2018 saw the city receive two-thirds of its usual yearly rain quota. Feeling refreshed yet?

Converted to inches, the city’s June rainfall was around 4.5 inches – which doesn’t sound so bad. If you own a recent iPhone, your screen is taller than that.

Come now. The city didn’t even get enough rainfall to fully drown your smartphone, and you’re writing your summer off?

Don’t move to Colombia

Yellowknife definitely received a vast amount of rain by NWT summer standards but, compared to some parts of Canada, it’s a drop in the ocean.

June’s 114 mm of precipitation, a record in Yellowknife by a distance, would be just under the average April total for Vancouver (although it still beats Vancouver’s usual June rainfall).

In St John’s, Newfoundland, 114 mm represents the average Wednesday.

OK, that’s an exaggeration, but only three months in the year fall below 114 mm of precipitation in St John’s – which posts annual precipitation of more than 1,500 mm.

Lastly, if June has been a struggle for you in Yellowknife, don’t move to Quibdó in Colombia.

Residents of Quibdó, where it’s wet for an average of six days per week, receive more than 8,000 mm of rain each year.

Imagine their potholes.