Winter 2020-2021

[Antares]

I know it's a tad early as winter just ended but let's hear any predictions or guesses for the upcoming winter!

For now, I'll go out on a limb and say we'll see "some" snow in November.

[Monty]

Cold Enso. Possibly a full fledged La Niña.

[SouthSardiswx]

Cold Enso. Possibly a full fledged La Niña.

Wow Montys showing his cards early. I'm going to say like 2016/2017 type winter.

[Antares]

Cold Enso. Possibly a full fledged La Niña.

That would be a nice change. We've been in a neutral (whether slightly + or -) phase for a while now.

[Typeing3]

Wow Montys showing his cards early. I'm going to say like 2016/2017 type winter.

A very solid winter. Only aspect differentiating '16-17 from being considered top tier was the lack of a true arctic blast. But it was persistently chilly throughout with many snowfalls and mean temps hovering around 0C. Here in Coquitlam, we had snow on the ground from early Dec thru late Feb.

[Canada Goose]

Here in Coquitlam, we had snow on the ground from early Dec thru late Feb.

With no interruption?

Port Moody shows no snow after mid-January: https://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_d ... 17&Month=1

[Typeing3]

With no interruption?

A pineapple express accompanied a relatively significant warmup in mid January. Most of the snow melted and my yard only had a few small patches left but temps dropped again during the first week of Feb and we received another big dump of snow. Had about 30cm on the ground again in just a few days. The rest of the month was relatively cool/showery with some minor snow events so the melt was pretty slow. In early March we got another ~10cm snowfall as well.

Up the hill in the Mundy Park area was a different story though...even with the mid January warmup the deep snowpack pretty much persisted into mid March. Same deal with Westwood plateau.

[Canada Goose]

A pineapple express accompanied a relatively significant warmup in mid January. Most of the snow melted and my yard only had a few small patches left but temps dropped again during the first week of Feb and we received another big dump of snow. Had about 30cm on the ground again in just a few days. The rest of the month was relatively cool/showery with some minor snow events so the melt was pretty slow. In early March we got another ~10cm snowfall as well.

Up the hill in the Mundy Park area was a different story though...even with the mid January warmup the deep snowpack pretty much persisted into mid March. Same deal with Westwood plateau.

Ya, that's what I see on Port Moody data. Pretty impressive.

[AbbyJr]

A pineapple express accompanied a relatively significant warmup in mid January. Most of the snow melted and my yard only had a few small patches left but temps dropped again during the first week of Feb and we received another big dump of snow. Had about 30cm on the ground again in just a few days. The rest of the month was relatively cool/showery with some minor snow events so the melt was pretty slow. In early March we got another ~10cm snowfall as well.

Up the hill in the Mundy Park area was a different story though...even with the mid January warmup the deep snowpack pretty much persisted into mid March. Same deal with Westwood plateau.

Interesting that Mundy Park area was so different than the Coquitlam Centre area, as the elevation difference isn't that different, unlike Westwood Plateau, which is significantly elevated.

Looking at Google Earth, the Mundy Park area is around 162m and Coquitlam Centre is around 20m. So thats a 142m difference.

However, Westwood Plateau goes up to around 358m. So thats a 338m difference from Coquitlam Centre.

It would make sense that Westwood Plateau would be a different climate zone in the winter from the city centre due to such a large elevation difference but a little more surprising that you would see such a drastic difference even just 142m up the hill.

I guess a 1C temperature difference around here can be the difference between rain/slop fest and a winter wonderland.

However, if I had endless money and was buying a house around here specifically for snow, I'd want to be at the highest elevation possible, which would be around the golf course on Westwood Plateau. There are some beautiful Whistler chalet style homes up there on Parkway Blv.

[Canada Goose]

Interesting that Mundy Park area was so different than the Coquitlam Centre area, as the elevation difference isn't that different, unlike Westwood Plateau, which is significantly elevated.

Looking at Google Earth, the Mundy Park area is around 162m and Coquitlam Centre is around 20m. So thats a 142m difference.

However, Westwood Plateau goes up to around 358m. So thats a 338m difference from Coquitlam Centre.

It would make sense that Westwood Plateau would be a different climate zone in the winter from the city centre due to such a large elevation difference but a little more surprising that you would see such a drastic difference even just 142m up the hill.

I guess a 1C temperature difference around here can be the difference between rain/slop fest and a winter wonderland.

However, if I had endless money and was buying a house around here specifically for snow, I'd want to be at the highest elevation possible, which would be around the golf course on Westwood Plateau. There are some beautiful Whistler chalet style homes up there on Parkway Blv.

142 m difference is a lot in oceanic climate. The snowfall increases very quickly when you go up in altitude, even by only 100 m. Furthermore, Mundy Park is a very big park; its influence is noticeable.

The Westwood Plateau or Burke Mountain are two nice places for snow in winter... but these are foggy and cloudy places as well, even during summer. Mundy Park is a better place in my opinion.

[AbbyJr]

142 m difference is a lot in oceanic climate. The snowfall increases very quickly when you go up in altitude, even by only 100 m. Furthermore, Mundy Park is a very big park; its influence is noticeable.

The Westwood Plateau or Burke Mountain are two nice places for snow in winter... but these are foggy and cloudy places as well, even during summer. Mundy Park is a better place in my opinion.

Its interesting that Westwood Plateau and Burke Mountain would be foggier than the lower elevations. I've always thought that higher elevations would be more likely to be sunny/clear on foggy days? Though my friend in Kamloops has said that the higher elevations of the city such as Aberdeen are often foggier than the valley bottom... any meteorological explanation for this?

[Canada Goose]

Its interesting that Westwood Plateau and Burke Mountain would be foggier than the lower elevations. I've always thought that higher elevations would be more likely to be sunny/clear on foggy days? Though my friend in Kamloops has said that the higher elevations of the city such as Aberdeen are often foggier than the valley bottom... any meteorological explanation for this?

Oh, Kamloops and Coquitlam don't have the same climate obviously!
What you say is true in some climates such as Okanagan Valley's, not in oceanic climate like in the Vancouver area.
Around Vancouver, the closer the mountains you are, the more rain, snow and fog you get (orographic effect).

[Abby_wx]

142 m difference is a lot in oceanic climate. The snowfall increases very quickly when you go up in altitude, even by only 100 m.

Even 70 meters...

[AbbyJr]

Oh, Kamloops and Coquitlam don't have the same climate obviously!
What you say is true in some climates such as Okanagan Valley's, not in oceanic climate like in the Vancouver area.
Around Vancouver, the closer the mountains you are, the more rain, snow and fog you get (orographic effect).

True but I have heard from a couple sources (including a friend who lives in Kamloops) that Aberdeen often gets a lot more snow than the North Shore in the winter and can also be foggier too. Of course Kamloops is very dry but because the top of Aberdeen is around 510 meters higher in elevation than the North Shore, when moisture does make it into the region, its heaviest in the Aberdeen area.

My friend said its not uncommon to have lots of snow in Aberdeen and little-none downtown and in the North Shore. She said Kamloops is the weirdest place she's ever lived for that.

Its certainly a very unique geographic region given there is a 510m elevation change in around 10km.

There are some beautiful homes with incredible views at the top of Aberdeen. I'd love to live up there and watch the lightning storms in the summer.

Here's a video I found on YouTube of a lightning storm in Kamloops. Looks like it was filmed in the Aberdeen or Upper Sahali area. Those views are absolutely stunning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcyPrxsHRT4

[VanCitySouth]

LMAO what the hell

https://twitter.com/AlexLubbers2/status ... 2017683457