weather you like it or not

Atmospheric river + actual river = River++

This past weekend, October 19 and 20th, an atmospheric river passed through the area, bringing a whole lotta rain and the attendant issues that accompany a whole lotta rain, like flooding and such.

Over both days I went through Lower Hume Park and the Central Valley Greenway that follows the trail next to the Brunette River, getting shots of local flooding and water, water everywhere.

I’ve collected the most interesting shots below.

For the record, I prefer my rain light.

There’s something in the air

Specifically, an atmospheric river. It seems like just a few short years ago I’d never heard the term, now it pops up every fall. I live in a region known as temperate rainforest. Rain is right in the description, so rain is not unexpected.

But rivers of rain? In the sky? That come down to be with the land I walk upon?

I do not like this.

But until U.S. Democrats can perfect their weather machines (topical joke), there’s not much I can do but put on my big boy booties, jacket and suck it up. Well, not literally suck it up. That would be a lot of water. And it would probably taste funny, too.

Here are cats in the rain:

August Rain

The song Guns ‘N Roses didn’t write.

We’re apparently in for a few days of showers–specifically, five of the next six days, starting today, but not including tomorrow, which is strangely listed as “mostly sunny”. I’m okay with that, though I’m never really sure how to dress for summer rain. The high today will be 24C. That is totes t-shirt and shorts weather. But you’ll be getting wet, so wear a rain jacket. But any rain jacket is going to feel too warm when it’s 24C. So just embrace the rain.

The Rainening, plus bonus dream report

And so it begins. As I type this on Sunday morning, the heavy rain…

…has begun.

I may go out and take photos later, because that would be a silly thing to do.

In the meantime, I had a bunch of dreams last night and remember bits from at least four of them:

  • Some ancient Greek or Roman stage play where I was hosting people in togas and such, with political intrigue. Also, someone had their genitals hanging out like they were auditioning for Caligula. It was not sexy.
  • Going down the stairs in a university, and they had big art displays in the stairwells that were awkward to move around. I noted this while chatting with a girl, who then bumped into one, which may have been a giant telescope model, and it rolled down the stairs into the lobby. It didn’t seem damaged, but she took off, and then I had to also take off, because even though I had nothing to do with it, I was the next obvious suspect.
  • Visiting the grocery store near our old house in Duncan (which is actually a Shoppers Drug Mart now). I was apparently there very early, as I passed the morning meeting/scrum where most of the employees had gathered. After leaving, I realized I didn’t have my phone and recalled using it in the store, so it seemed odd that I would suddenly not have it. I thought how I couldn’t check with mom at the old house because she doesn’t live there anymore.
  • Speaking of houses, I was in some big mansion or something and being chased by villains or zombies or maybe villainous zombies. I acquired a pistol and might have had a melee weapon in my other hand. I remember shooting several of these whatever-they-were, and it had a very video game vibe to it. It wasn’t scary at all. I took it on the lam and at one point hid in the world’s largest closet as they pursued me. Seriously, the closet was bigger than some of the places I’ve lived. Maybe it was a secret room and not a closet. I hid in a pile of stuff in a corner and remember hearing them talking just on the other side.
  • There might have been a bonus fifth dream, but I no longer recall it.

Welcome to June 2024 (bring your hip waders)

From Environment Canada:

A year ago, I was noting the FIRE DANGER signs had just gone up. That won’t be happening for a while this time around1My totally scientific prediction is by the end of June, if the weather trends dry after the current soaking. The 10-day forecast does show sunny and warm temperatures returning on June 5, though, which means some will be complaining that it’s too hot by June 8.

But hey, no forest fires. Just the possibility of flash floods, which is totally something you expect with summer 19 days away. Weather2Probably climate change, actually, amirite?

OK, I’m officially lodging a complaint against Mother Nature

I know, complaining about the weather (over which I have no control, at least to my knowledge) is dumb and pointless, but when I looked at the 10-day forecast this morning and saw eight days of everything from “light rain showers” to “heavy rain”, with a mere two days of “mostly sunny” in the middle (which will probably change to “light rain” in the next day or so), I felt I had to…post this.

On the plus side, this will prevent local forest fires, which we don’t really get, because the lower mainland (Metro Vancouver to outsiders) is not exactly covered in forest to begin with. It also means fewer incidents of skin cancer, since no one is going to be working on a tan, except possibly those two “mostly sunny” days (which are a lie, anyway).

On the other plus side (I’m trying to stay positive here), maybe instead of a scorching dry hot summer, it will merely be pleasant and mild and people will wake up every morning and feel refreshed and filled with joy, and return to a nice cool bedroom in the evening feeling the same.

Or you know, we could get maybe another sunny day sometime so I remember what they feel like. I’m just saying. (It’s raining steadily as I type this.)

Obligatory GIF:

The first ludicrous forecast of 2024 has arrived!

UPDATE, May 12, 2024:

The actual predicted high today is...22°C. I was right. I win! I don't win anything in particular, but I win!

The weather app as of the actual date, May 12th shows this:

—

Original post below:

From the Windows weather app:

The average high on May 12 is 19°C, so this would be a full ten degrees higher–and set a new record. I am predicting the actual temperature on this day to be:

22°C

We’ll find out in nine days!

(I am undecided on whether I’d actually want it to be 29°C. That is pretty dang hot for May, but if it’s not too humid, it really wouldn’t be that bad. Also, not like I have a weather machine to control this stuff, so I’m mainly trying to rationalize something out of my control here.)

Raining? Have fun with these activities!

Photo by veeterzy

A list:

  • Jump in puddles (works best if under eight years of age)
  • Wait inside for it to stop raining
  • Do that jigsaw puzzle you bought ten years ago that’s buried in a closet somewhere
  • Listen to rain-related pop songs to “go with the flow”
  • If you have a car, now you don’t have to wash it! (Technically, this is not an activity.)
  • Do some dusting. Admit it, you haven’t dusted since you bought that jigsaw puzzle.
  • Plug your ears and say, “La la la, I can’t hear you, stupid rain!” over and over (works best if slightly mad.)
  • Just do regular stuff, but now it’s raining

Posting preposterous proposed precipitation-free prognostication

This is from the 10-day weather forecast. As I post this, it is March 9, 2024.

The normal high on these days, the last of which is the final day of Winter 2023/24, is 11C. As you can see, they are predicting a high up to 20C, which is almost double that and is legitimate t-shirt weather.

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/401/347/312.jpg

Even better: Only the first two days would establish new records, as we hit 20C on March 18 five years ago, in 2019.

Anyway, it will make for nice running weather if it happens. Unnerving, weird and unsettling, but nice.

Words that rhyme with “snow”

Photo by Pixabay

I can think of one:

NO!

We got snow last night, and it had the temerity to start sticking. There’s still some left this morning. Who decided it would be funny to flip January and March around? Why is Mother Nature being such a jerk?

The 10-day forecast claims that it will be 14C on March 13th. WE’LL SEE.

In the meantime, I’ll be here, huddled next to the heater.

March 2024: The Possibilities

March is a fun month, but also weird and sometimes horrible. Behold my list (with semi-random bold highlights):

  • We switch back to Daylight Saving Time, aka Proper Time, and gain back an extra hour of light in the evening (as of March 10). This is good for birding and just not being in the dark as much.
  • Spring officially begins (on March 19). I saw buds on trees back in January, so spring is really already underway, despite a few attempts at snow since then (Mother Nature is acting more like Mother from the terrible Police song of the same name right now).
  • Even without DST, daylight is stretching out longer into the evening.
  • Temperatures start getting milder. T-shirt weather soon! (More seriously, t-shirts become feasible outdoors as soon as next month, barring climate change hijinks that could genuinely push this into March).
  • A downside: Starting with February, the amount of precipitation goes down every month until September, when it starts going back up–except for March. March is an anomaly, where it is wetter than February. The downward trend resumes in April.
  • Speaking of, it is 3°C and raining as I type this, with a high of 7 forecast (two degrees off the average). Winter is reminding us it’s still official for 17 more days.
  • But also speaking of, March is where the last chance for real snow that sticks to the ground and needs to be shovelled, comes to an end. Looking at the 10-day forecast, it seems we are safe from any more snow accumulations for Winter 2023-24, though a few flakes may fall over the next few days here and there, just to annoy everyone.

Here’s the historic average for rainfall. It’s for New Westminster, but I checked, and it’s accurate for the whole Lower Mainland1Or Metro Vancouver, if you prefer to be all official about it.

March: We heard you like rain.

And with all that said, here is my haiku for March.

Haiku for March

Warmer and brighter
But still the rain won't let up
Take what you can get