sooo, i've heard lots about how vancouver is supposed to get twice as much rain as london so can anyone share their weather experience on vancouver? is it really that it rains tones more or is it maybe that instead of the british drizzle you just have proper rain and thats why vancouver technically gets more rain? or is it literally that it rains pretty much every day apart from the sunny months of july and august?
also, where's the nearest place to surf (not windsurf but with proper waves) around vancouver?

cheers guys!

surf: vancouver Island west coast, or oregon coast. Vancouver is too protected for surf. Kitesurfing all around vancouver, Boundry bay, squamish in summer if that suits you as an adequate substitute.

Others will be along to fill you in about vancouvers micro climates.

thanks for that! so roughly how long would it take to get from vancouver cbd to a good surf spot on say vancouver island or the oregon coast? would probably be more of a weekend trip then wouldnt it?
guess you always have the mountains to play on too

Ya, def a weekend away. I'm a kiteboarder, ex windsurfer, reluctant surfer and in Calgary now so not much surf here.

All that mincing around paddling around when you can use the kite to get out back, depower the kite, ride the wave and have endless sessions.

Seriously though, there are also some spots in washington state but I don't know them too well.

As you say, stellar mountain sports to keep you busy. If you like outdoors vancouver will tick most of the boxes.



http://www.surfingvancouverisland.com/surf/
http://www.oregonsurf.com/pages/orsurfguide/north.html

Hey there,

Take up snowboarding and ride the powder!! It's awesome.....

As far as rain in Vancouver, well, it pretty much rains from November to April!! But on the occasional sunny days, you realise why you live there when you can see the beautiful snowy mountains on the north shore....

I already snowboard, its the boyfriend who is a very keen surfer. He started snowboarding, too, but will definitely miss his surfs. But it's good to know that there is some surf in road trip distance

As for the weather... have any of you ever lived in the South West before? It rains constantly down here, and I've read that Vancouver in fact has more sunny days per year than London so I'm guessing in Vancouver it just rains a lot more when it does rain (mm per rainfall)? Or are you telling me it's literally constant rain from October to April???

Yeah for snowboarding!! I've heard the surf isn't bad on Vancouver island if a little cold......

It pretty much rains most of winter and as a general rule summer is beautiful. I think the rain is just more concentrated, but at least you know it's snowing in the mountains not too far away!! I actual live in Cornwall at the moment, but have lived in Vancouver a couple of times....

We had 8.6mm of rain over the past 90 day to Friday last. Friday to Monday up to 150- 200mm depending on where you were. More to come this week, with high winds. It is not unusual for it to rain 3 days straight. Vancouver for the most part has double the annual precip of London.

All the data you need is here http://www.climate.weatheroffice.gc....s/index_e.html

The nearest you would get to surfing around Vancouver is wind surfing. Board surfing, west coast of the island.

Pretty much, interspersed with the odd arctic outflow, low temps and cold winds.
Check out the EC stats on the link above.

The surfable parts of the Oregon coast are about 8 hours’ drive from Vancouver. If you time the ferries correctly it is about 5 1/2 hours from Vancouver to Long Beach on Vancouver Island. As mentioned above, Squamish is about an hour and a bit from Vancouver and is a centre for wind surfing.

As for the weather, Vancouver has a lot more rain than London, UK, but exactly how much more depends on where you live. The closer to the mountains you are the wetter it gets. We have just started on the wettest part of the year - between now and Christmas. Even so, it will probably not rain on more days than it does rain. However, a front can easily bring 100 mm (4 inches) of rain with it that gets deposited over two or three days and then it seems like the rain will never stop.

It does.

We will get some sunny days in November and December. But not many.

We usually get a couple of falls of snow in the winter but it rarely lies for more than a day or two. Each winter we get a a period when the cold air from the interior spills out to the coast - a week or two of bitter cold with cloudless sunny skies.

Shorts and sandals start to reappear at the end of February/beginning of March though less hardy types like me wait until April. Spring tends to be hit and miss. Some nice days and some overcast with showers. June can be a surprisingly wet month.

And then there is summer ...

In summary, more hours of sunshine than London (UK), more days with sunshine, and a much greater volume of rain.

Maybe more rain then London however not sure if Vancouver can rank up against Manchester for rain?

Manchester is comparatively parched.

Manchester: 806.6mm p/yr average (140 days of rainfall)

Vancouver: 1,199mm p/yr average (161 days of rainfall)

As Aviator pointed out, Vancouver rain can be quite localized.

Manchester reputation for rain, is greatly exaggerated. It gets less than the UK average.

Vancouver gets a lot more rain than Manchester or London.

right so just checked the rain data for plymouth. over 1000mm per year and 178 rainy days... i think we could deal with vancouver especially if you then get a proper summer!

3 days of rain now sunny with blue sky