Port Alice

Port Alice is a village of approximately 739 (2021 census) located on Neroutsos Inlet, southwest of Port McNeill, on Vancouver Island, originally built by Whalen Pulp and Paper Mills of Vancouver. The community is known for its natural environment, pulp mill, and salt water fishing.

Port Alice
Village
Village of Port Alice[1]
Port Alice is located in Vancouver Island
Port Alice
Port Alice
Location of Port Alice in British Columbia
Port Alice is located in British Columbia
Port Alice
Port Alice
Port Alice (British Columbia)
Coordinates: 50°25′36″N 127°29′17″W
CountryCanada
ProvinceBritish Columbia
Regional districtMount Waddington
Government
 • Governing bodyPort Alice Village Council
Area
 • Total7.04 km2 (2.72 sq mi)
Population
 (2016)
 • Total664
 • Density94/km2 (240/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-8 (PST)
Highways Hwy 30
Websitewww.portalice.ca
Port Alice looking out to Neurotsos Inlet - Photo taken in November 2020
Port Alice Rumble Beach Marina

History

It was named after Alice Whalen, the founders' mother. The brothers Whalen began their construction of the mill at its present site in 1917,[2] with first pulp produced in 1918. The mill at Swanson Bay, on the Inside Passage farther north, was also a Whalen operation. Port Alice bears a resemblance to Port Annie, the fictional town described by Vancouver Island author Jack Hodgins in his novel The Resurrection of Joseph Bourne. The new orchid hybrid "Port Alice" has been officially listed at London England in the Royal Horticultural Society's "Book of Registered Orchid Hybrids". This slipper-type flower is the result of crossing a complex hybrid Paphiopedilum "Western Sky" with a species Paphiopedilum appletonianum.

Geography
Aerial view of the original townsite

Devil’s Bath, a flooded sinkhole near Port Alice, is an example of a cenote[3] and is the largest in Canada at 359 meters in diameter and 44 meters in depth.[4]

There are a number of hiking destinations in the area. They include Devil’s Bath, Eternal Fountain, Vanishing River & Reappearing River. These are a series of ancient karst and limestone formations. The access is through dirt roads.

Climate

Port Alice has an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) and is one of the mildest and wettest places in Canada, receiving 3.4 metres (130 in) of actual rainfall per year and exceptionally little snow, which amounts to as much as 33 percent more rainfall than infamously wet Prince Rupert and only marginally less than Southeast Alaska’s wettest cities of Ketchikan and Yakutat which each average around 3.8 metres (150 in) and receive much more snowfall.

Climate data for Port Alice
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 20.5
(68.9)		 19.0
(66.2)		 21.5
(70.7)		 26.0
(78.8)		 31.5
(88.7)		 33.5
(92.3)		 35.5
(95.9)		 34.5
(94.1)		 29.5
(85.1)		 26.5
(79.7)		 22.8
(73.0)		 17.2
(63.0)		 35.5
(95.9)
Average high °C (°F) 7.4
(45.3)		 8.0
(46.4)		 9.9
(49.8)		 12.2
(54.0)		 15.6
(60.1)		 18.1
(64.6)		 20.8
(69.4)		 20.9
(69.6)		 18.4
(65.1)		 13.3
(55.9)		 9.2
(48.6)		 7.0
(44.6)		 13.4
(56.1)
Daily mean °C (°F) 4.9
(40.8)		 5.1
(41.2)		 6.4
(43.5)		 8.3
(46.9)		 11.3
(52.3)		 13.8
(56.8)		 16.1
(61.0)		 16.4
(61.5)		 14.1
(57.4)		 10.2
(50.4)		 6.6
(43.9)		 4.6
(40.3)		 9.8
(49.6)
Average low °C (°F) 2.4
(36.3)		 2.2
(36.0)		 3.0
(37.4)		 4.2
(39.6)		 6.9
(44.4)		 9.5
(49.1)		 11.4
(52.5)		 11.8
(53.2)		 9.7
(49.5)		 7.0
(44.6)		 4.0
(39.2)		 2.2
(36.0)		 6.2
(43.2)
Record low °C (°F) −12.2
(10.0)		 −11.5
(11.3)		 −5.5
(22.1)		 −1.7
(28.9)		 0.5
(32.9)		 1.1
(34.0)		 5.0
(41.0)		 4.5
(40.1)		 0.0
(32.0)		 −4.0
(24.8)		 −11.5
(11.3)		 −12.8
(9.0)		 −12.8
(9.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 492.2
(19.38)		 354.0
(13.94)		 320.4
(12.61)		 258.3
(10.17)		 147.3
(5.80)		 100.1
(3.94)		 59.5
(2.34)		 94.6
(3.72)		 130.2
(5.13)		 417.6
(16.44)		 561.4
(22.10)		 491.2
(19.34)		 3,426.8
(134.91)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 484.1
(19.06)		 345.3
(13.59)		 316.1
(12.44)		 257.8
(10.15)		 147.3
(5.80)		 100.1
(3.94)		 59.5
(2.34)		 94.6
(3.72)		 130.2
(5.13)		 417.5
(16.44)		 559.1
(22.01)		 487.0
(19.17)		 3,398.6
(133.80)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 8.1
(3.2)		 8.7
(3.4)		 4.3
(1.7)		 0.5
(0.2)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.1
(0.0)		 2.4
(0.9)		 4.2
(1.7)		 28.3
(11.1)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) 23.3 19.7 22.7 20.1 17.0 16.0 10.4 11.9 14.6 22.2 24.1 22.8 224.7
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) 22.8 19.5 22.5 20.1 17.0 16.0 10.4 11.9 14.6 22.2 24.0 22.3 223.3
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) 2.2 2.2 1.7 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.8 1.8 9.2
Source: [5]

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Port Alice had a population of 739 living in 415 of its 538 total private dwellings, a change of 11.3% from its 2016 population of 664. With a land area of 7.03 km2 (2.71 sq mi), it had a population density of 105.1/km2 (272.3/sq mi) in 2021.[6]

Notable people

References
  1. "British Columbia Regional Districts, Municipalities, Corporate Name, Date of Incorporation and Postal Address" (XLS). British Columbia Ministry of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  2. "Port Alice Official Website".
  3. map of the area
  4. Port Alice Tourism Vancouver Island North
  5. "Calculation Information for 1981 to 2010 Canadian Normals Data". Environment Canada. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  6. "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), British Columbia". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  7. "Bio – Dr. Patrick Moore".
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