This is the most depressing winter I’ve ever spent in Vancouver. Usually by this time of year, we’ve had a couple weeks of gorgeous spring weather and I’m rubbing it in the face of everyone I know back East, emailing photos of tulips and cherry blossoms glowing in the sun. Not this year.
I heard on the radio yesterday, in an extended story on our miserable weather and the likelihood of floods and mudslides across the area, that March alone has already had 20 days of rain. We’re on track to break the record for monthly rainfall. In the last two days, we’ve apparently had over 100 mm of rain and are due for another 40-50 before the weekend is over. The Fraser river might overflow and flood huge areas, and communities in North and West Vancouver are likely to be hit with more mudslides. Who knows, maybe we’ll even end up with undrinkable water for another week! (All this is in addition to December and January’s INSANE snow and windstorms that resulted in huge damage to Stanley Park and us having to get a tree removed from our yard before it fell into our kitchen.)
Stats and weather predictions aside, week after week of staying inside with two small children and an antsy dog are a surefire recipe for insanity. Lisa and I put some of last year’s tax return money into an RRSP and now we’re kicking ourselves for not making some sort of vacation fund to escape this lunacy.
Now there are some things that keep Vancouverites going during times like these - tricks of surviving these extended deluges. Generally, it’s the thought of August and spectacular beach weather, boating and swimming in the ocean and kids playing in the sand. I’m beginning to question whether the one month of inspiration is enough to last the rest of the year. (But also asking the question that brought us out here - is there anywhere else in Canada that’s better?)
Posted under Vancouver
This post was written by stevepratt on March 24, 2007
