Vancouver May See White Christmas
Photo Credit: Brendan Kergin/Vancouver is Awesome
Dreaming of a white Christmas may prove worthwhile this holiday season. BC residents can expect a La Niña weather pattern this winter, which will bring below-average temperatures, low-elevation snowfall, and higher precipitation levels.
BC ski resorts and their adjoining communities are hopeful for a successful season, while firefighters are anticipating a lighter fire season.
The most recent data posits the chance of a La Niña year at 71 per cent, a reversal of the El Niño weather pattern seen last year
La Niña means “little girl” in Spanish, and refers to large-scale cooling of the surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
Conversely, El Niño means “little boy” in Spanish, and is a weather term defined as the warming of the ocean surface in the same regions, coupled with a reversal of the atmospheric conditions.
In BC, a La Niña winter is created when the jet stream, a fast-moving air current, shifts northward. This change modifies weather patterns and creates a northwest flow that channels chilly, moisture-laden air from the Pacific Ocean into BC.
As this wintry air moves inland and above the mountains, it cools quickly, resulting in heavier and more consistent snowfall.
However, meteorologists have referred to this year’s La Niña as “weak,” meaning that the weather pattern’s only noticeable effects will be felt during winter, according to meteorologist Amer Castellan. However, even weak La Niña winters have brought colder weather in the past, particularly in Western Canada, and it still promises many benefits.
In recent years, BC has been experiencing an ongoing drought that’s caused wildfires to burn year-round, and water rationing in some communities.
Rivers have also been affected by the drought, experiencing dangerously low water levels that have harmed salmon migration.
A La Niña weather pattern could ease this drought, providing relief for communities affected by the wildfires, or with a startlingly low water supply, while also restoring rivers and fostering healthy ecosystems.
For BC’s skiers, a La Niña climate would bring more snow on low-elevation mountains, such as those on Vancouver’s North Shore, and make-up for a slow season last year.
The 2023–2024 ski season was Canada’s hottest-ever winter recorded, according to Business in Vancouver. Ski hills experienced many closures due to poor conditions.
Already this year, snow has graced mountaintops, and attracted a record number of visitors at Big White Ski Resort’s opening day on Nov. 22. A whopping 103 centimetres had already amassed, creating some of the best ski and snowboard conditions the resort has seen in its over 60-year history.
Revelstoke Mountain, in the Kootenays — which holds a 1972 Canadian record for most snow dropped in a single winter — is especially likely to receive plenty of snow.