02.08.11

World Wide Weather #29: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Posted in Non-US Weather, Weather News at 8:00 am by Rebekah

This week’s post in the global weather and climate series features Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Vancouver, looking across the harbour from North Vancouver

Vancouver lies on the southwest coast of Canada, and with a metropolitan population (2006) of 2,116,581 (urban: 578,041), it is the most populous city in western Canada and the third largest in the country (in terms of the metro). Immigration has increased dramatically in recent years, and as many as 30% of the city’s population is of Chinese heritage (~52% of the city’s population does not speak English as their first language).

The primary industry of Vancouver is logging; in fact, the city began in the mid-1800s as a logging town. The port of Vancouver (Port Metro Vancouver) is also a vital part of the city, and is the fourth largest port (by tonnage) in North America, after South Louisiana, Houston, and New York/Newark. The second largest industry in Vancouver is tourism. Vancouver is also the third largest film-production center in North America, after Los Angeles and New York City. You may recognize the skyline of Vancouver in some TV shows and movies.

A few more facts about Vancouver (from Wikipedia):

• Time zone: Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8) or Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
• Average elevation: 7 ft (2 m)
• Climate zone: Oceanic or marine west coast
• Average high temperature: 57 °F (14 °C)
• Average low temperature: 44 °F (7 °C)
• Average annual high/low temperature range: 43 to 71 °F (6 to 22 °C) / 33 to 56 °F (1 to 13 °C)
• Record high temperature: 94 °F (34 °C)
• Record low temperature: 0 °F (-18 °C)
• Average annual precipitation: 47 inches (1,199 mm)
• Average annual rainfall: 45 inches (1,155 mm)
• Average annual snowfall: 19 inches (48 cm)

Weather: In contrast to last year during the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver has been seeing near average temperatures lately. January did bring above average rainfall, though, and that has been due in large part to an occasional stream of moisture from the central Pacific known as the Pineapple Express. The ridge in place over the eastern Pacific has been great for pulling the moisture northward into southwest Canada and the northwest U.S.

This mild, wet pattern is likely to continue for at least the next week or so.

As far as snow, here’s a snow depth map for British Columbia from The Weather Network:

For weather maps and information on current and forecast Vancouver weather, see Environment Canada, Weather Underground, and The Weather Network.

For more information on Vancouver, here’s a link to Wikipedia.

Next Tuesday I plan to take a look at the climate and weather in another part of the globe.  As always, if you have any suggestions for future cities, please leave a comment!

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