Weather Forecast Information...

It is difficult to forecast weather in Vancouver. Our topography is very peculiar, we go from sea level to mountains in a few kilometers, we're next to an ocean, a strait and mountains.

Rain...

Vancouver's longest wet spell began January 6, 1953, and ended 29 days later. There was rain recorded on every one of those 29 days. But Vancouver is not Canada's wettest major city. Nor is it the second wettest. Nor even the third. In fact no fewer than five cities in Canada have average annual precipitation higher than Vancouver's paltry 1,113 millimetres. Every major city from Quebec City eastward to St. John's gets more annual precipitation than Vancouver.

Pollution...

There is never any shortage of opinion that air pollution is getting worse over any major city. In Vancouver, though, there is good news: visible pollution has declined to the point where Vancouver International Airport is recording one-quarter to one-third the number of foggy days experienced in the 1940s. The fog we still experience from 20 to 30 days a year is relatively pure and white but just as hard to see through!

Winds...

The term "Squamish winds" has become a generic term for outflow air currents: winds that blow out of a valley or channel, often at speeds up to 100 kilometres per hour. Howe Sound is a north-south channel that can serve as an outlet for cold Arctic air that often sits over the province's interior in winter. In Howe Sound the speed of the winds is exaggerated by the tightness of the channel. The waters off Squamish itself are known as the best windsurfing location in B.C. because of the frequency and magnitude of these winds.

So the best and worst thing about living in Greater Vancouver is the weather. Allan Fotheringham once called Vancouver the Canadian city with the best climate and the worst weather.

When the weather is good, it's great.

Text excerpts from http://www.discovervancouver.com By Phil Reimer