Weather at Christmas time....? (Vancouver: rental car, hotel, living in)

[nakadinhi]

We were thinking of visiting Vancouver right before Christmas through the New Year and beyond a few days. Can anyone share the weather situation during this time and what adverse conditions may be occurring such as driving, rainstorms, etc. ?
Our thoughts were to experience the winter time there to get a better understanding on what we may be undertaking with moving and although 2 weeks may not be sufficient time to fully understand, at least we will have a glimpse of what takes place.

Thank you for your information and sharing your positive and negative experiences with those who have no clue...

Mahalo nui loa !

[texasdiver]

Off the top of my head based on living in the region for most of my life? In late December you'll have:

5% chance of snow or ice storms
5% chance of clear sunny (cold) skies
40% chance of overcast skies
40% chance of light rain/drizzle

As for winter driving around town? About once or twice per year we get some sort of snow/ice that makes driving treacherous but it rarely lasts for more than a day or two. Driving up into the mountains is a different matter. That is all elevation based. If you want to explore up in the mountains anywhere in the Northwest you should be prepared for winter driving conditions in late December. About the only reason to do that is for skiing or perhaps a scenic drive because everything else will be closed and all the parks and such will be snowed in and closed.

If you are thinking about moving here then a winter visit is a good idea. The region is spectacular with wonderful weather most of the summer. Late fall/winter is the time to visit to get a better flavor of life in the region.

[StealthRabbit]

Can vary a lot, but generally high of 40F with drizzle, lows near freezing.

One Christmas we woke up to a blizzard, the snow was drifted above our front door 7' + (16 miles east of Vancouver)

Our first Christmas in Vancouver treated us to freezing rain. Usually lasts 2 -3 days (Silver Thaw).

We have had a few 50F days for Christmas in last 40 yrs. Maybe one or 2 with sun-breaks.

Usually (likely January) there will be a week of cold and clear weather with high winds.

[fruityfred11]

Nearly 100% likely to be cool and/or wet. Day length is shortest at that time of course, and when the sun is at its weakest. Which means that even dry weather and high pressure is usually accompanied by fog and temperature inversions because the sun is too weak to burn anything off at this latitude, keeping it chilly in the valleys.

Some years might have snow and colder weather, we've had a few white Christmases this century, but more likely you'll just find rain and temps between about 30 and 45 degrees.

[leastprime]

Just plan on the cold (40+/-), dark, and dreary days and nights. Plan on being wet drizzle to Mike rain. Just no thunder and lightning. You may get a break around New Years +/-, has something to do with the Moon.

[notnamed]

Average high of 47, low of 33, likely overcast with rain. Slight chance of snow that escalates with elevation if you get out in the hills.

Still t-shirt weather for me having moved here from Ohio.

[silibran]

Two years ago, if memory serves, we had winter precip over Christmas. Streets were icy Christmas morning,

And the area was hit by a lot of snow in 2008, I believe.

When it snows or sleets, only the interstates are plowed. Streets remain a mess until we get a thaw.

But winters are not generally awful here. They might be when you travel, but more likely, they will be simply windy and quite cool. That East wind can be pretty fierce though.

[nakadinhi]

Thank you everyone for your detailed responses ! I now have such a clear idea as to what the weather and conditions will be, you all might have saved me some plane tickets and hotel accomodations....LOL !!!
I really appreciate your willingness to inform others who are seeking answers to all the questions people like myself have. This forum has been especially helpful to us !

One question I have is how would you know the road is icy.... would you have to come upon it or are there weather warnings that would inform people ? I just have this picture in my mind of driving and all of a sudden losing all grip to the road and sliding everywhere... obviously I would hate to come upon that situation, but that's what I think of when I hear of "icy roads."

Do you just wait out the situation or do you need chains on the tires to drive the car.... which would be a "rental car" for us? (Gasp.... I would hate that to happen for sure)

Thank you all again for all of your help ! Truly grateful !

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by nakadinhi

Thank you everyone for your detailed responses ! I now have such a clear idea as to what the weather and conditions will be, you all might have saved me some plane tickets and hotel accomodations....LOL !!!
I really appreciate your willingness to inform others who are seeking answers to all the questions people like myself have. This forum has been especially helpful to us !

One question I have is how would you know the road is icy.... would you have to come upon it or are there weather warnings that would inform people ? I just have this picture in my mind of driving and all of a sudden losing all grip to the road and sliding everywhere... obviously I would hate to come upon that situation, but that's what I think of when I hear of "icy roads."

Do you just wait out the situation or do you need chains on the tires to drive the car.... which would be a "rental car" for us? (Gasp.... I would hate that to happen for sure)

Thank you all again for all of your help ! Truly grateful !

If there is freezing rain and icy streets you will know because you will walk out on the sidewalk and immediately fall on your butt and you will see all the other cars around you sliding around.

Best thing to do is just wait it out. Only emergency service providers like doctors and such who need to be at the hospital should be bothering with chains to get out on the road. Serious ice storms are rare so I wouldn't worry about it. If by chance it happens, just go with the flow.

[nakadinhi]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

If there is freezing rain and icy streets you will know because you will walk out on the sidewalk and immediately fall on your butt and you will see all the other cars around you sliding around.

Best thing to do is just wait it out. Only emergency service providers like doctors and such who need to be at the hospital should be bothering with chains to get out on the road. Serious ice storms are rare so I wouldn't worry about it. If by chance it happens, just go with the flow.

Thank you texasdiver ! Advice will be taken !