It was a warm August in 2010, but not as warm as some years, and it was also fairly wet, which might be why the East Kootenays had hardly any fires in August while the rest of the province was burning up.

According to the monthly survey issued by Environment Canada, the mean (average) temperature in August was 16.96 C (62 F), about a degree below the normal August mean of 17.1 C (63 F).

Despite the slightly below normal mean, there was some warm days last month with the temperature climbing to 32.2 C (90 F) on Aug. 18 and climbing 30 or above on four other days.

But there was also some cool nights too with the temperature falling almost to the freezing mark at 1.8 C (35 F) on Aug. 23 and 3.4 C on Aug. 30 which made it difficult for forest fires to start.

There were also some soaking rains during the month. On Aug. 29, some 12.8 mm (about half-an-inch) rain fell and 8.22 mm of rain fell Aug. 5, both totals associated with thunderstorms.

In all, it rained 45.8 mm during August, well ahead of the normal August rainfall total of 34.4 mm which was good for the gardens and kept Cranbrook and Kimberley relatively smoke-free during the month while other cities around the province choked in forest fire smoke and ash much of the month.

No records were set during the month but the August minimum temperature of plus 1.8 C came fairly close to the August record of minus 1.3 C (30 F) set in August 1992. The warmest August temperature recorded at the airport from 1969 to 2006 was 36.2 C (97 F) in August 1992.

And the cool weather near the end of August continued into the first week of September with no sign of Indian summer yet. But don’t despair, warmer weather is supposed to be on the way by the middle of the month.

And don’t even think of winter yet despite the dusting of snow on the local peaks last week.