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I hear it rains a lot. I'm from a place that snows a lot so I think rain would be a little better. But I'm just wondering, is it really that bad? how often does it rain? I'm thinking of either going to BC or California.
That is a big difference! California, the land of sun vs. the plush, green, rainy seasons of British Columbia.
I have lived here 5 years now. I do love the rain so am fine most of the winter. I think the longest period without sun has been 3 weeks. The clouds are low sometimes so you can't see the top of the mountains. For some people it makes them feel closed in. Other times it is bright but no sun. I have never seen so many cloud formations or different patterns of rain anywhere I have lived.
I love it when we have a down pour. There are streams running down the street within minutes! It is also really cool when it is sunny out and raining. There have even been times when it was raining in the front of the house and not in the back! These are only on sunny days this happens.
We have short winters compared to snow climates but the snow stays on the mountains longer. Makes for some gorgeous skiing.
Now that everything is green again, flowers out, gardens growing, I would never want to live anywhere but here. It truly is one of the most beautiful places to live in the world.
I had to laugh at what that first response said: "I think the longest period without sun has been 3 weeks."!?!?!
I don't know where they live but I was born and raised here (a suburb just outside of Vancouver) and yeah, it rains here a LOT. We actually broke a record last year for the most days of rain in a row. I believe it was 42 days? And if it hadn't NOT rained on the 42nd day, it would have been about 50 or 60 days!!!! That's not to say that it poured EVERY day but it was pretty close. The winters are generally mild but it is cloudy and gray and damp almost the entire time. Then when it does snow, nobody knows how to deal with it. Lots of fender-benders, lots of schools closed etc for a very small amount of snow.
Believe it or not, I am moving to Boston and I can't wait! I know it's colder (obviously) and TONS of snow but...... as far as sunshine goes, they still get WAY more than we do here.
Summers here are generally nice but July and August get SO dry that there are water rations on and it's all brown and yellow (because people aren't allowed to water their plants or lawns)
So in a nutshell - yes, our reputation for rain is absolutely dead on. In fact, some areas of BC are considered "rain forest"!
Yes but even so you must admit that from about November to April it's grey and cloudy most of the time - with or without record amounts of precipitation. By February this year I just want to crawl into a hole when I'd get up EVERY morning and opened the drapes and gee, it's raining AGAIN - just like yesterday, just like the day before, just like the week before etc. It got pretty depressing. It might not have been the "norm" but with the weather patterns changing from global warming, they say that it is what we can expect (the precipitation comes in off the ocean and it dumps on us when it "bumps" into the mountains). I'd honestly rather deal with colder temperatures and lots of snow but at least have some SUNSHINE on a regular basis.
And yeah, you're right - I don't like it here anymore. It has changed SO much in the past 20 years I don't even recognize it as the same city (nothing to do with the weather of course).
I agree that we get a lot of gray cloudy days but our winters and shorter than most. If you are a sun worshiper than no it would be silly to live here. I have found if I start to feel closed in from the weather to either go to a brightly lit mall, turn on all the lights around you so it feels bright for a while or sit down with some funny, classic summer fun movies.
I will never tire of the smells the rain makes. Or having green lawn for the whole winter. We would not have the beauty around us if it were not for the rain.
That's too bad that you don't like it here anymore. It just has so much to offer and the people are so friendly. Good luck in Boston!
Vancouver,BC gets a somehat undeserved reputation for being a rainy city ....but it's only rainy in the winter ...it usually has fantastic sunny mild summers without the heavy oppressive humidity of the east ....(Ontario/Quebec/northeast USA) ...where it actually does rain alot all year is farther up the coast ...for example in the Prince Rupert, BC area .....Prince Rupert receives almost double the rainfall of Vancouver ....also it depends on where in the Vancouver area ...highest rainfall is near the mtns ...least is away from the mountains ...White Rock area gets the least rain.....
mausketeer is right, except for the city thing, cause I don't know where it is he is located, I like where I live in Mission, but he is right about the weather, and the rain, and the reputation.....I am looking forward to leaving (when I do leave, where ever that may be), just so I can experience more than 140 or so days with sun....200 or more would be nice. I rather liked the snow days we had this year, A lot more than normal....but it was sunny for at least SOME of those days, they were basically the break of sun we got between the start of November and late March, cause otherwise it was RAIN, drizzle, clouds.....it gets old fast
Vancouver recieves on average about 45 inches of rain
Abbotsford (in the Valley, out near where I live) recieves on average about 62 inches
White Rock is the driest, they recieve around 36 inches of rain each year
Just to give you an idea
Last edited by ken.k-la; 06-03-2007 at 10:43 PM..
Reason: adding some stats
Believe it or not, I am moving to Boston and I can't wait! I know it's colder (obviously) and TONS of snow but...... as far as sunshine goes, they still get WAY more than we do here.
Summers here are generally nice but July and August get SO dry that there are water rations on and it's all brown and yellow (because people aren't allowed to water their plants or lawns).!
I've studied a lot of info on climates in North America. Boston is probably sunnier than Vancouver, but not by much. I don't think it isnoticeably sunnier than Toronto, and Toronto isn't much sunnier than Vancouver. New England is not exactly known for sunshine.
(I could be wrong, maybe you've done some extra homework)
If you do want to move somewhere much sunnier on the Atlantic Coast, the climate around Long Island, NY and maybe Conneticut is actually pretty sunny compared to places to the west, north and south. This sunny pattern stretches all the way down to Florida, though it's not quite as strong around N.Y.C. I believe NYC averages 4-5 hours of sun a day in winter while Toronto averages between 2-3 hours.
So why is no one allowed to water plants? Is water really that scarce or is it mostly because of the West Coast being famous for very eco-friendly laws?
We get dry periods in Ontario sometimes where they ask some communities to conserve, but the city I live in never had water restictions in the 20 years I've been there.
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