Watery Weather Woes

The continuous downpour in Vancouver has been depressing

Since the massive snowfall ended last week, Vancouver has been soaking wet. It was great to have the rain help melt the snow away quickly, but now the endless rain is pretty depressing.

And this weekend Environment Canada has warned that heavy rainfall could cause flooding in parts of Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and Metro Vancouver.

The heaviest rainfall is expected between Sunday night and Monday.

Lots of snow paralysed parts of the city

Not only that, but warmer temperatures mean freezing levels will be higher. What would freeze at 2,000 metres, will now freeze at between 2,500 to 3,000 metres.

That means rain and now snow on local mountains. It was so bad that Mount Seymour had to close today (Saturday) because of weather, while on Grouse Mountain, lessons after 1pm were cancelled. Cypress Mountain was the only one fully open.

This year's ski season has been a washout. Literally.

On a bright note, yesterday I managed to get a walk in the forest without a drop of precipitation. However, about two hours later as forecasted, it began to rain and it has not let up since.

What a January! Freezing temperatures, massive snowfall and now a deluge of rain...

Cold is Relative

Hongkongers are experiencing cold weather today

Hong Kong logged its coldest temperature this winter at a chilly 9.8 degrees Celsius today and people on social media were complaining about the cold, and having to bundle up.

Tai Mo Shan, the city's tallest mountain at 957 metres, logged 0.3 degrees -- might as well say it was zero. Back in January 2016, temperatures plunged to be low zero on the peak, and if you remember, people got stuck up there, unfamiliar with the icy conditions and firefighters had to go and rescue them. Why did people go up there? To see frost...

Cypress Mountain barely has enough snow

Meanwhile, across the Pacific Ocean, Vancouver is experiencing its third-warmest winter on record at 9 degrees. We are definitely not going to have a white Christmas compared to last year when we were inundated with snow starting in late November.

It was so bad for skiers yesterday that Mount Seymour closed early yesterday afternoon because of the lack of snow, and Cypress and Grouse each only have one downhill run open...