High expectations - the cold dry stuff
Well, we've all heard the La Nina chatter and the mainstream press is getting in on the action. Are we getting our hopes up too high? Environment Canada isn't jumping on the bandwagon yet...the forecasters are probably skiers and don't want to jinx it. This from the Vancouver Province:
Get your parka, boots and gloves ready for this winter.
A weather condition that would bring cool temperatures and snow is being predicted for the West Coast by an American forecasting company.
Accuweather.com made the chilling prediction on Monday, saying La Nina, a phenomenon where the sea temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean are cooler than normal, is on the way.
The result would be lower temperatures across Western Canada, with AccuWeather guessing it will be one of the coldest three winters in the past 20 years around Vancouver and Victoria.
Environment Canada was unwilling to predict a La Nina year, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, has also said La Nina is coming.
A La Nina in the winter of 2010-2011 produced a terrific amount of snow in the coastal mountains.
Brett Anderson, the Canadian forecaster for AccuWeather, said back-to-back La Nina systems “happen, but it’s not that common.”
He’s predicting a moderate La Nina, with colder weather patterns coming from the northwest rather than the milder, wetter west.
“We’re going to have more cold outbreaks than normal in southwest B.C.,” said Anderson.
Both Whistler Blackcomb and West Vancouver’s Cypress Mountain are both heralding the return of La Nina in their advertising.
The pattern is particularly productive for Whistler, where last season’s La Nina produced a stunning 1,579 centimetres of snow or 52 feet — the second highest snow season on record.
Whistler Blackcomb spokesman Peter Lonergan said La Nina is “really good news.”
The resort is scheduled to open November 24.
“We hope it could be earlier,” said Lonergan.
