After a sleepless night on the wet coast with 80-100mm of rain falling on us overnight, and some areas getting even more, the wet coast's weather is in full effect. Sunny skies are not predicted until the 20th, sadly 12 days from now. This is definitely the season where you don't tan, you rust.
As the rain beats against the window, I really cannot complain that much compared to the poor folks in southern Ontario. I'll take rain over snow any day. Over the last couple days, they have been buried with snow with some areas reaching over 140+CM of snow! Environment Canada said some areas of London, Ontario saw up to 80 centimeters of snow on Monday. Another 20 to 30CM was projected to fall yesterday and another 10CM is expected today. To give you an idea of how much snow that is for that area, London only received a total of 108 centimeters of snow between December 2009 and March 2010. That's almost a year's worth of snow in a couple days! Keep in mind, places north of London got even more snow. Plus we are not technically even in winter yet and most likely this is a sample of what is to come.
Looking back to my weather prediction for the west coast that I posted at the beginning of October. It has been over 2 months since that post and with last nights heavy rain fall, I decided to see how my prediction is going so far if if I am on track or way off. If you didn't read or or need a refresher, the TL;DR, aka short and sweet of it, is:
"Based on what I have found, I would more or less sum it up to wetter than normal conditions with some snow around mid-December and again in February so my rain gear will get the workout and my snow gear will come out just enough to still feel loved. Snow tires, shovel and salt will still be needed but sump pumps and ensuring your gutters are clear may be of more importance."
So far, it has for the most part been correct. We have had a couple minor snowfalls on the coast (causing havoc here of course) and some not just cold, but damn skippy cold days for our area. Day time highs weren't getting above -5oC and throw in the windchill, it was getting down to -15oC or even colder range. Wouldn't be bad if it was dry cold like out East but wet coast cold weather tends to have moisture included, which goes through any clothes you are wearing, no matter how many layers. It sucks. My dog at least likes the snow but he also doesn't have to drive in it. Other than that, it has been a typical wet and overcast fall for the coast. Definitely a good time to consider taking some Vitamin D, aka the sunshine vitamin. Hmmm...I'm sensing a slight sidetrack off topic and why not? Maybe you can learn something? So let me ask you, why should we take Vitamin D supplements in the fall and winter? Well, I'm glad you asked (even if you didn't).
Vitamin D is produced naturally in the body through exposure to that big glowing orb in the sky's ultraviolet rays. Living North of 490, we tend to get a lot less sun in the winter months. Some areas farther North barely get any sun (but make up for it with the Aurora Borealis). Recent studies have shown Vitamin D can strengthen your bones, thwart different forms of cancer, stave off multiple sclerosis and autoimmune disorders and fight infections. I think that deserves a winner, winner, chicken dinner. The Canadian Cancer Society said that based on current research, adults should consider increasing their daily dosage of vitamin D to 1,000 International Units (IU) of vitamin D daily during the fall and winter months. And of course, in consultation with a health-care provider before you start taking it. Safety first people.
And now that we may have learned something, let's get back to my winter prediction. I decided to check the 14 day trend for Vancouver on TheWeatherNetwork.com's site and see if any of the fluffy white stuff is planned for the middle of December. Well, as of this post, we have snow predicted from the 16th through to the 19th. How much we will get, based on the below image, will depend on temperature. It looks like it will be hovering just around freezing mark so that could easily switch to rain or sleet for lower areas. But if it does drop, we could get a decent snowfall. We will just have to wait and see and make sure we are prepared for a couple possible days of snow right before Christmas. Now if the coast will get a white Christmas, we'll need to wait a couple more days before the long term predictions come in and even then, weather is known for changing to both better and worse conditions.
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