Locals rejoiced at the sight of rainfall Friday morning, following weeks of bone-dry conditions in Metro Vancouver.
While the showers were relatively light across the region, the precipitation offered a welcome respite from poor air quality caused by wildfires burning across B.C. and south of the border.
Metro Vancouver ended its air quality advisory Friday (Oct. 21) morning, which was issued on Oct. 14 due to high concentrations of fine particulate matter in the atmosphere.
As of noon on Thursday, Vancouver had the fourth-worst air quality of any city in the world (165 on the US Air Quality Index). On Oct. 17, it was estimated that breathing the air for a day in parts of the Lower Mainland was akin to smoking five cigarettes.
While the sunshine is expected to return over the weekend, the forecast includes more wet weather starting Sunday night and through the rest of next week.
Locals express joy for improved air conditions
People took to social media early Friday to share enthusiasm for the welcomed rainfall and improved air conditions.
5:45am Friday 21 October - Breaking news: small droplets of water are falling from the sky over Metro #Vancouver. My sources tell me it’s rain - something not seen around these parts in a while. I was able to snap this pic from my car as it began. #FinallyRainInTheRainforest pic.twitter.com/bMiPZvmgKJ
— BEN WILSON (@BenWilsonThings) October 21, 2022
So happy to see, hear, smell and feel the rain this morning! The smoky air was really getting me down. Last year, I wrote a SA with piano accomp. of Milne's comical poem "Happiness". More information and audio at @SheetMusicDir. https://t.co/WHzKoxC1cF #choral #canadian #treble pic.twitter.com/M44ZLAMlrs
— Gerda Blok Wilson (@BlokWilson) October 21, 2022
FINALLY SOME RAIN!!!! Reminder: someone slap me if I ever complain about the rain or cold because this extended heat wave summer hasn’t been nice to me at all!!!!
— Tasha🧸💼 (@dominodawg22) October 21, 2022
Wholesome ripening fig content. With a few drops of much needed rain. That is all. pic.twitter.com/4b71rESCPU
— Nathanael Lauster (@LausterNa) October 21, 2022
Finally got some rain
— 黄金リツ・Kogane Ritsu🦉📚＠JP/EN V-Singer Training Arc (@koganeritsu) October 21, 2022
Wasn't much over here tho but at least it's -something- lol pic.twitter.com/VgbeC5hF6L
What a difference a day makes. Thick Forest Fire Smoke and Fog. To a change in Wind direction, some Rain, and a Marine push. Vancouver, BC. @spann @JimCantore @MatthewCappucci pic.twitter.com/yCalUdWAjR
— Brad Atchison (@Brad604) October 21, 2022
The significant change in weather even inspired one local to pen some poetry.
This fresh afternoon #air flows in a weak westerly breeze producing a watery accord of #scents: damp concrete like a parking garage after rain, wet slate, and faint notes of silty sand. Light traces of drenched foliage and decaying leaves rise from below. 2/3
— Air Report (@airtasting) October 21, 2022
One woman mentioned that most Vancouverites' appreciation for the rainfall probably won't last that long, however.
Vancouverites yesterday: "Please let it rain, we've had a 3+ month drought!" Vancouverites tomorrow: "When will this damn rain end?"
— Vance Williams (@vancew) October 21, 2022
But a couple of people pointed out that there wasn't a great deal of precipitation Friday.
Vancouver rain has mostly passed through. Does not even 2 millimeters count as "rainfall"? Once again a lot of early hyperbole about a Friday storm. pic.twitter.com/xxe6W4lAkM
— Peter Vogel (@PeterVogel) October 21, 2022
Looking ahead in the Metro Vancouver weather forecast
In a recent update, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) called for a 75 per cent chance that La Niña will be present this winter and won't change to a "neutral" weather pattern until about February.
La Niña's impact on southern B.C. doesn't start to show until the late fall or early winter. But it does tend to produce cooler than normal conditions and snowier conditions over the mountains.
Find out what kind of impact the third consecutive La Niña system could have on Metro Vancouver.
