Joe: Zero cm here in Esquimalt -Phew!
Someone here told me that his relatives (Victoria couple) visiting Las Vegas are upset over the foul weather.
I had zero cm of accumulation but I heard that Surrey had 16 cm –on the news. I did not have enough precip in rain to match that if it had been wet snow. I saw footage of Seattle with snow and near 0C temps at around 8 am. Esquimalt had 3C. Victoria ever so closely escaped snowfall again. But I remember Victoria being borderline to snow while Seattle had much milder temps on a weird occasion earlier on in the season. A tad of wet snow fell in Sydney and Langford but Esquimalt with that 1C extra escaped with partial sleet.
Rain this morning as daylight arrived. No melting process needed. We dodged the bullet until now but can we boast to that next time?
I assume that upper North Van got heavy snow. That most of the Lower Mainland has accumulation. I don’t know about Tofino but I assume that they had rain.
I assume that higher SSI locations got wet snow like the Malahat.
I bought a huge turkey for New Years. It's a monster. I've got to keep room because I'm about to get a few Kg's heavier real soon. Gotta love it!
I hope that you enjoy New Year's.
The following thread was started by Denis -Victoria, BC: narrow escape! on December 31, 2003 at 9:31 am PST
When I woke up this morning it was rain, but the total snow accum. here was 2 1/2 cm. The low temp. was 0.5 celcius. With this rain the snow will be gone in no time. The wife and I were in Victoria yesterday, and the weather was great. Sunday lows for Victoria look yucky! Cheers, Joe
The above followup was added by Joe, SSI on December 31, 2003 at 9:41 am PST.
I woke up to rain also. I am in the very lowest part of North Vancouver so it is the mildest on average. I had a total of 1 1/2" of snow. My low last night was 1.7C but I only had a high of 2.2C.
This morning it was 2.8C.
I had to knock all the very wet snow off the palms and bamboo this morning, everything was bent right over.
No loses though!
The above followup was added by Wes North Van on December 31, 2003 at 10:18 am PST.
I hate snow and all the trouble it brings. Shovelling, driving, walking in snow, are all things for our eastern neighbors.
Temps just above freezing with wet snow falling. It's goning to be a bad night at work for me. Where's my plane ticket to Aruba!
The above followup was added by Barrie - Las Palmas Norte - Lantzville on December 31, 2003 at 10:42 am PST.
Most of my palms and exotics were snow free this morning, since the rain had melted it off during the early mornig hours. I see we can expect some clear sky and chilly temps. for Sunday. A good way to put our most tender exotics to the test. Cheers, Joe
The above followup was added by Joe, SSI on December 31, 2003 at 10:49 am PST.
My low last night was 1.5C (coldest part of yard). We had some heavy rain during the night. It is partially sunny now and about 5C at 11:30AM. Environ. Canada says that Victoria will have a low of -4C on Sunday night. I hope that's as low as it gets. Komo says that Seattle will be 27F.
What is interesting is that during radiant freezes Victoria will usually be lower than Saltspring and sometimes Vancouver. When the cold flows out from the interior then Victoria is often milder than Vancouver, SSI and even Seattle. I remember last year when there was snow in all places north of Victoria, but we had rain. You only had to drive north of Victoria about 5 minutes before the snow was falling and sticking.
The above followup was added by Jeff, Victoria, BC, 8b on December 31, 2003 at 11:39 am PST.
Still no snow on Saturna. It's currently 5C (41F) at noon. Coldest temperature so far this winter was 1.3C (34.3F) recorded on the night of December 29. Looks like we may get our first frost on Sunday or Monday.
The above followup was added by Mark on December 31, 2003 at 12:51 am PST.
We've had some terrific PNW-style rains and winds so far this season. But I suppose it could be a lot worse. This is what my brother writes from Kings Valley:
in Kings Valley the rain had
switched to snow. Power went out at 2 AM and when we got up Monday morning
we were shocked by the amount of snow and the devastation it caused. I
measured eight inches, but it was not the powdery snow you get in the
Cascades. It was wet and heavy.
Chuck, as soon as I saw that many of the branches on our big fir tree out
front were broken by the weight of the snow I bundled up and went out to
survey the damage and see what I could do to save your trees and bushes.
All of the eucalyptus trees were bent down to the ground. One large tree
was snapped off and across the road. The boxleaf azara in front of the red
cabin was completely uprooted, as was the weeping willow behind the bamboo.
The southern magnolia near the cottonwoods was decimated. Only one small
branch remains. Almost every tree or bush lost a branch or more. There
was also a large oak and alder down. I went down the entire camp shaking
huge clumps of snow off the trees and allowing their branches to bounce
back, but as you can imagine the damgage is going to be noticable. Both
the chinqapin and madrona are fine...no damge at all. It looks like the
native broad-leaf evergreens fared much better than the exotics.
I don't miss Oregon this time of year.
The above followup was added by Chuck Fulton-Castroville, CA on December 31, 2003 at 1:03 pm PST.
No not for me in North Van (I had 6cm) but Nick Parker in Delta has 15" - 37cm as of 1pm and it is still snowing. Luckily for me it turned to mixed snow and drizzle by 8:30am.
No problem so far. Now the worst may be to come. There are reports of artic air coming to the coast by Sunday. I doubt we will be anywhere near the sadly misinformed Weather Networks forecast of a high of -9C for Monday but I would rather the cold stay away. I have forgotten how to protect the more delicate plants.
Happy New Year and Happy Gardening!
The above followup was added by michael on December 31, 2003 at 1:29 pm PST.
I had a very nice couple from southern California stop by this morning and purchase quite a few palm seedlings. They just moved here only 3 months ago, and they love palms! It's nice to see that folks from southern Cal. who usually take palms for granted, would like to fill their garden with them. I showed them around the garden, and their future plans are to create an exotic landscape. They made my day! It's currently 4.7 celcius and raining here. Joe
The above followup was added by Joe, SSI on December 31, 2003 at 1:38 pm PST.
We received about 8 inches of snow last night and today. Unfortunately, the snow changed from powder to wet snow which increased the weight of the snow substantially. Consequently, a structure I built to protect my butia collapsed under the weight of the snow. Also, a eucalyptus neglected was uprooted after heavy snow on my timber bamboo forced the bamboo onto the eucalyptus.
It is still snowing here in Lynn Valley at 5:56 pm. The real test will come early next week. Are we finally going to experience a severe cold spell we have been dreading for years?
The above followup was added by Vito, North vancouver on December 31, 2003 at 6:00 pm PST.
I drove up to Tofino this afternoon. My car thermometer showed 7 degrees (C) in Victoria. Most of the drive was about 0 to 2 degrees (C). The worst driving was from Cathedral Grove through Port Alberni to Hydro Hill on the Tofino highway.
Tofino was 3 degrees and there is no snow in town. My remote thermometer is currently (7 p.m.) showing 2.2 degrees (C). However, the airport (ten miles away) is showing 0 degrees (C).
I ordered my new Vantage Pro weather station today. I also ordered the WeatherLink software that downloads and saves the data. In a few weeks I will be able to track the actual weather on the peninsula and compare it to the airport. By my car thermometer (and my remotes) we usually seem to experience winter temperatures about one or two degrees warmer than the airport weather station.
The above followup was added by Brian, Tofino, BC on December 31, 2003 at 7:10 pm PST.
My wife was told by a client of hers they didn't have any snow in their area of Parksville. Very little if any remains in Departure Bay and most of Nanaimo tonight.
The above followup was added by Barrie - Las Palmas Norte - Lantzville on December 31, 2003 at 11:22 pm PST.
Most of the snow here on the north end is gone. There are a few traces of it in some of the hollows. Fairly breezy out there at the moment with sun and clouds. Current temp. is only 4.6 celcius. I was just speaking with my mother in Law over in White Rock and they have quite a bit of snow on the ground. Joe
The above followup was added by Joe, SSI on January 01, 2004 at 1:13 pm PST.