West Coast Rain (Scotland and Canada)
Created | Updated Jan 24, 2007
If, like me, you have ever lived on the West Coast of Scotland or Canada, you will be very familiar with rain and getting wet. I am writing this at work while I contemplate putting on my cycling gear, still wet from this morning, and enduring another 20 minutes in today’s “bracing” weather.
I moved from Glasgow to Vancouver in February 2002. My new colleagues apologised profusely for the appalling weather that I was forced to experience while out searching for a place to live. I replied that I had not noticed anything particularly bad about the weather. Vancouver rain is generally vertical, while Glasgow rain seems to come at you from all directions. This is one aspect of Vancouver's climate that is better than Glasgow’s. Another is that the summer is generally warm and sunny. I do not recall this weather pattern occurring while in Glasgow, although May can often be quite nice.
Most of the time, I actually quite like the rain. This is lucky given my chosen location. (People often express surprise at my attitude; I reply that fresh drinking water falling from the sky is not a bad thing. This opinion may become more common after another few decades of climate change). During my first Canadian summer, we had weeks upon weeks of hot sunny weather. I felt strange – nothing I could put my finger on, but not quite right. As soon as it began to rain, I was seized with an urge to run outside. I instantly felt better, and realized that this was the longest I had ever gone without being rained on, and I had missed it.
Having said that, weeks upon weeks of rain is no fun either. It is now nearly the end of January and it has rained more or less non-stop since the beginning of November. I am forced to conclude that what I really like is a mix of weather. Anyone reading this in Vancouver will agree that I am in the right place for that (RIP Stanley Park trees).
At least it is snowing in the nearby mountains. The ultimate cure for a dislike of rain – learn to ski.
I moved from Glasgow to Vancouver in February 2002. My new colleagues apologised profusely for the appalling weather that I was forced to experience while out searching for a place to live. I replied that I had not noticed anything particularly bad about the weather. Vancouver rain is generally vertical, while Glasgow rain seems to come at you from all directions. This is one aspect of Vancouver's climate that is better than Glasgow’s. Another is that the summer is generally warm and sunny. I do not recall this weather pattern occurring while in Glasgow, although May can often be quite nice.
Most of the time, I actually quite like the rain. This is lucky given my chosen location. (People often express surprise at my attitude; I reply that fresh drinking water falling from the sky is not a bad thing. This opinion may become more common after another few decades of climate change). During my first Canadian summer, we had weeks upon weeks of hot sunny weather. I felt strange – nothing I could put my finger on, but not quite right. As soon as it began to rain, I was seized with an urge to run outside. I instantly felt better, and realized that this was the longest I had ever gone without being rained on, and I had missed it.
Having said that, weeks upon weeks of rain is no fun either. It is now nearly the end of January and it has rained more or less non-stop since the beginning of November. I am forced to conclude that what I really like is a mix of weather. Anyone reading this in Vancouver will agree that I am in the right place for that (RIP Stanley Park trees).
At least it is snowing in the nearby mountains. The ultimate cure for a dislike of rain – learn to ski.
