Wild Winds, Rain, Hail & Snow Batter B.C.

[talloola]

Yep, Ucluelet can be damp at times (worked there lots too) but doesn't hold a candle to Tahsis.

no nothing like tahsis at all, very different.

my oldest daughter has a cottage rental business in ucluelet, they have been
there for about ten years, so we do visit there fairly regularly and have
become quite familiar with the weather patterns.

ucluelet is cooler in the summer than here in the valley, but warmer in the winter.

they have their rainy times, and fog as well, but nothing like tahsis, or the north island.
I find that fog really annoying, and cold, I like to hang out at the light house in ucluelet,
with my coffee and binoculars, but the fog definitely finishes that idea, but its not all year,
only certain times.

 

[JLM]

no nothing like tahsis at all, very different.

my oldest daughter has a cottage rental business in ucluelet, they have been
there for about ten years, so we do visit there fairly regularly and have
become quite familiar with the weather patterns.

ucluelet is cooler in the summer than here in the valley, but warmer in the winter.

they have their rainy times, and fog as well, but nothing like tahsis, or the north island.
I find that fog really annoying, and cold, I like to hang out at the light house in ucluelet,
with my coffee and binoculars, but the fog definitely finishes that idea, but its not all year,
only certain times.

Port Hardy can see the odd drop of rain too, we were surveying right near town for two weeks around Hallowe'en and it rained every day of those two weeks, not necessarily all day but for a few hours every day and real down pours. But Port Hardy is milder than Courtenay and later that winter when Courtenay had a 50 cm dump over night, P.H. had a couple of cm. For once we were glad to be in Port Hardy.

 

[petros]

44 days of non-stop rain is why I left the coast. Noah got off easy.

 

[bill barilko]

Sunny w/light winds all day in Vancouver yesterday-I was cycling in shorts all afternoon.

 

[Mowich]

I think some of this "it's hotter, wetter, colder, milder" than it used to be is largely in our minds. Children's minds take in the big events and their perception of things is often quite exaggerated. When I was a child one of the high lights was sleigh riding down this "steep long hill" by our house. Years later when I drove it, it was merely a gentle incline. Mind you we haven't seen a winter like 1949-50 since but even that winter was impressive to me as it was my first year in school and I had to walk 11/2 each way.

I agree that our perception of things when we were children is exaggerated, JLM............however photos don't lie and I have photos of my sisters and I tobogganing off the second story of our farmhouse back in the 50s. Also have photos of the tunnels my Dad had to plow to get to the Quonset in the winter. The snow level was several feet above his head. It has been a very long time since Saskatchewan saw that much snow.

 

[talloola]

44 days of non-stop rain is why I left the coast. Noah got off easy.

i was born on the west coast and have never seen 44 days of non-stop rain, not even 30 days, not
even 15 days, maybe a week here and there, but the coast weather with its rain is not heavy long
term, its a few days here, then none, then a few days there, then none, you have to go to the
prince rupert area, or the north island, and even in the ucluelet area, they don't get long term, rain, they get storms, and a fews days at a time of rain.
tahsis and port hardy get lots of long term rain.

I agree that our perception of things when we were children is exaggerated, JLM............however photos don't lie and I have photos of my sisters and I tobogganing off the second story of our farmhouse back in the 50s. Also have photos of the tunnels my Dad had to plow to get to the Quonset in the winter. The snow level was several feet above his head. It has been a very long time since Saskatchewan saw that much snow.

yeah, some of the stories my mother told me about swift current when she was a kid would keep me away
from there forever.

I grew up in New Westminster, and those hills I rode sleds on are just as steep today as they were back
then, especially the few we chose because of the excitement, that city is built on a huge hill which
wraps around the down town area, with many steep roads.

 

[JLM]

i was born on the west coast and have never seen 44 days of non-stop rain, not even 30 days, not
even 15 days, maybe a week here and there, but the coast weather with its rain is not heavy long
term, its a few days here, then none, then a few days there, then none, you have to go to the
prince rupert area, or the north island, and even in the ucluelet area, they don't get long term, rain, they get storms, and a fews days at a time of rain.
tahsis and port hardy get lots of long term rain.



yeah, some of the stories my mother told me about swift current when she was a kid would keep me away
from there forever.

I grew up in New Westminster, and those hills I rode sleds on are just as steep today as they were back
then, especially the few we chose because of the excitement, that city is built on a huge hill which
wraps around the down town area, with many steep roads.

Of course you're right, maybe he got to 44 by counting a few days when a "trace" was recorded. Yep, hills in New West are steep. I think the main problem with people's memories is extrapolating from the individual events they remember vividly, like when the snow was right to the gutter to the way things were in general. I remember horrible days during the winter of '49-'50, but what I don't remember is how many of them there were. Your memory of that winter is likely clearer than mine Talloola. (hope I'm not being cheeky) :lol:

I agree that our perception of things when we were children is exaggerated, JLM............however photos don't lie and I have photos of my sisters and I tobogganing off the second story of our farmhouse back in the 50s. Also have photos of the tunnels my Dad had to plow to get to the Quonset in the winter. The snow level was several feet above his head. It has been a very long time since Saskatchewan saw that much snow.

Of course you are correct, Mowich, like I pointed out in another post, the veracity of individual events is bang on, what comes into question is the quantity of those events.

 

[talloola]

Of course you're right, maybe he got to 44 by counting a few days when a "trace" was recorded. Yep, hills in New West are steep. I think the main problem with people's memories is extrapolating from the individual events they remember vividly, like when the snow was right to the gutter to the way things were in general. I remember horrible days during the winter of '49-'50, but what I don't remember is how many of them there were. Your memory of that winter is likely clearer than mine Talloola. (hope I'm not being cheeky) :lol:

cheeky is the word that fits lol

some of those winters back in the forties and fifties were fun times with the deep snow and lots of it,
that has definitely faded away and doesn't happen any more on the south coast or the island.

if we get two weeks of snow and it builds up to about two feet that is amazing and unusual, but does
happen every few years.

I like the snow around xmas time, but as soon as the new year is over, the snow can leave too, i'm
looking for bare ground, milder temps, so I can walk. walking in light rain is nice as it is mild and
comfortable.

 

[VanIsle]

I think some of the things we saw growing up seemed bigger than today. I know the house I grew up in seemed huge and yet when I look at it today, it is so old and it looks so tiny. It was old when I was born and I left it 45 years ago. The neighbourhood I grew up in seemed like such a neat place to live yet now it's all old and ugly and all the houses look tiny. I look at our house and I wonder how we managed with 6 kids and my parents and one bathroom!!!! Five tiny bedrooms. However, the weather is mellow now in comparison. That's not just my memory. 20 below zero F. was not a common occurrance but, we did get to that at least a couple of times a winter and often hovered near it. I remember mounds of snow and getting stuck with the car because of it. That was the Okanagan/Similkameen though. This area - in our first couple of winters here 2002 and onward, we had a few heavy snowfalls. Hard and heavy shoveling here if it has to be done. I get out to shovel fast while the snow is still powder. It gets to be wet and heavy very fast. I've seen extremely hard rainfalls in Ucluelet and I've seen it rain there for a week at a time. Just at the point where you think you can't take another drop it dries up for a day or two. That is just the way it is. Twenty years ago anyway. I recall a couple of days of snow one year when we lived in Comox and then we built in Courtenay and we got a few flurries one afternoon very early in the year and that was all I ever saw of snow there. Courtenay is actually quite mild and dry as Talloola says it is. Nanaimo has been colder already this year than we have seen for the past 3 years. I think we're going to have a real winter this year. I was going to trade in my 4 wheel drive but I think I'll wait.

 

[JLM]

cheeky is the word that fits lol

some of those winters back in the forties and fifties were fun times with the deep snow and lots of it,
that has definitely faded away and doesn't happen any more on the south coast or the island.

if we get two weeks of snow and it builds up to about two feet that is amazing and unusual, but does
happen every few years.

I like the snow around xmas time, but as soon as the new year is over, the snow can leave too, i'm
looking for bare ground, milder temps, so I can walk. walking in light rain is nice as it is mild and
comfortable.

Actually there isn't even one day of the year when I like to see snow! :smile:

 

[VanIsle]

Actually there isn't even one day of the year when I like to see snow! :smile:

Ha! You and me both. So many people say "I would like to see snow just for Christmas Day" and I think "WHY????" I would be happy if it never snowed as much as one mm. That said, our house seemed to suddenly cool down just now - to the point that we both wondered if our computers were just running on battery and the power was actually off. I turned the heat up and the fireplace on. It looks cold out and the wind is picking up a little. Weather seems to be changing rapidly. The wind is now picking up a lot!! Getting dark looking out there again and the leaves are blowing all over. My garage of all places, is full of leaves. So many have blown into our driveway and the gardeners have not been here yet. I hope they are around today to gather up leaves and I'll clean out my leafy garage and hopefully be done with them for this year (for the most part).

 

[#juan]

Ha! You and me both. So many people say "I would like to see snow just for Christmas Day" and I think "WHY????" I would be happy if it never snowed as much as one mm. That said, our house seemed to suddenly cool down just now - to the point that we both wondered if our computers were just running on battery and the power was actually off. I turned the heat up and the fireplace on. It looks cold out and the wind is picking up a little. Weather seems to be changing rapidly. The wind is now picking up a lot!! Getting dark looking out there again and the leaves are blowing all over. My garage of all places, is full of leaves. So many have blown into our driveway and the gardeners have not been here yet. I hope they are around today to gather up leaves and I'll clean out my leafy garage and hopefully be done with them for this year (for the most part).

It has been snowing very hard for the last hour but it seems to have subsided. There are still a few wet flakes but the big thing right now is the wind which is supposed to hit 80kmh. Our 4 or 5 large trees have taken a fair amount of punishment over the last while. We lost one last summer, fortunately it missed the house.

 

[VanIsle]

It has been snowing very hard for the last hour but it seems to have subsided. There are still a few wet flakes but the big thing right now is the wind which is supposed to hit 80kmh. Our 4 or 5 large trees have taken a fair amount of punishment over the last while. We lost one last summer, fortunately it missed the house.

Hi Juan,
The wind at my house is not too bad right now. The snow seems to come and go. We haven't had any hard snowing - just light flurries and at first I thought it was that hail coming again. Very very wet out there. This wind isn't supposed to last too long so hopefully it moves on before it has a chance to damage your trees. I'm very close to Costco so you know how close that puts me to the water. I imagine the worst comes off the water.

 

[JLM]

Ha! You and me both. So many people say "I would like to see snow just for Christmas Day" and I think "WHY????" I would be happy if it never snowed as much as one mm. That said, our house seemed to suddenly cool down just now - to the point that we both wondered if our computers were just running on battery and the power was actually off. I turned the heat up and the fireplace on. It looks cold out and the wind is picking up a little. Weather seems to be changing rapidly. The wind is now picking up a lot!! Getting dark looking out there again and the leaves are blowing all over. My garage of all places, is full of leaves. So many have blown into our driveway and the gardeners have not been here yet. I hope they are around today to gather up leaves and I'll clean out my leafy garage and hopefully be done with them for this year (for the most part).

It's a little on the cool side here for mid November too, probably more typical for early December. I just got back from the walk, pretty well chilled to the bone even though I was wearing my tuque. Guess I'll have to dig out the winter coat and insulated pants soon.

 

[VanIsle]

Today, it is almost like watching the rain come in a few days ago but the sky has a whole different colour to it. It's kinda screaming the S word.
Summary

5 to 10 centimetres of snow locally tonight. This is a warning that significant snowfall is expected or occurring in these regions. Monitor weather conditions..Listen for updated statements.



Details

A narrow band of heavy snow is forecast to form in an unstable flow across Georgia strait that will slide southward through East Vancouver Island this evening. This burst of snow is expected to affect areas from Campbell River to Nanaimo this evening. Snow will likely be mixed in with rain initially but will quickly change to snow as the atmosphere cools. Current indications are suggesting that snowfall accumulations may locally reach 5 to 10 centimetres although amounts will likely vary throughout the region. Visibility may be reduced significantly in heavy snow making driving conditions difficult. Motorists are advised to exercise extra caution when driving in adverse weather.