There will be more rain tonight. It shouldn’t last too long, but we could get a good downpour out of it. It will then be on and off kind of showers and clouds for the remainder of the week before another bit of rain comes in for Friday.

As for the Christmas forecast… the models had us getting a nice ridge of high pressure that looked to be able to cool us down enough for snow, but now they’ve back off that and we’re hovering around 1-3C, like we have been the past few weeks, with rain. Don’t lose hope if you’re wishing for a white Christmas, but at this point I’d only give it a 20% chance.

And finally, I’ve got my webcam back! It died a slow death over the beginning of this year. Too much time exposed to the sun apparently. So it went back to California, got a repair job, and now it’s back and better than ever.

I’ve made it more prominent on the Webcam page. You will need a Java plugin to see the live image (your Internet Explorer or other browser should prompt you for this). Please leave feedback or send me an email if you don’t like the new webcam page, if it’s slow, or if it just isn’t working for you or if you do like it! My email is chrisale@gmail.com or just leave a comment in any thread here.

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14 thoughts on “More rain tonight… webcam is back!

  1. Did the highways department use the same company to get their webcams fixed? I see the hump cam is back on also!!

  2. So what happened to our cold, snowy winter? I read Brett Anderson’s blog, and his latest long range forecast based on the European Models is that we will continue relatively mild and wet into January.

  3. Anonymous: Ha! That’s funny! And a complete coincidence. The only reason mine was delay so long was because I balked at the $150 repair bill… but eventually decided any other option was going to be just as expensive or more… so told them to go through with the repair a couple weeks ago and I had it within a week.

    Bill: I was going to make a comment on that as well. It seems as though we’re getting the proper flow of weather for an El Nino, lots of big precip events into the Washington state area… but the cold air has not materialized for us. With the North Atlantic Oscillation going very negative and causing the big freeze on the Eastern Seaboard one wonders if it is due to the major melt of the Arctic that is known to help that pattern along and rob us of cold air

  4. Yup… Mike out in Ukee noticed that, and then he had an almost 3c temp drop in a short period of time… I am seeing that drop occuring now, seems to be with the wind as well.

  5. Chris, that cam of yours must have a really funky or sensitive lense/CCD if sunlight can damage it. My cam has been up for several years now, and it’s been beaten on by the sun many times. All we see is a black disc over the brightest spot of the sun. Even my truck’s backup camera does this.
    Speaking of cams, yes, the hump cam is back, but we are also getting cams on Sutton’s Pass (aimed West I think) and along Kennedy Lake before the Doyle Creek hairpin. Can’t wait for those to go online!

  6. Yes, my camera doesn’t have the magic black disk 🙁 Netcam doesn’t do it apparently 🙁

    Is your cam an Axis camera?

    Those extra cams will be awesome!

  7. Chris which forecast do you prefer? I know you post the Envoronment Canada forecast on here. I find the Weather Network not as good. Is the TWN forecast made back east and done by maps etc? Compared to Environment Canada being here on the coast.

  8. Linda: There was a little bit a slush on the side of the road when I came over at 5.

    Anonymous: I prefer the Environment Canada one over The Weather Network. I’m not sure why they’re not as reliable, but maybe that’s part of it. At least with EC you know they’re in Surrey and when I call in for severe weather it does indeed get incorporated, so that’s encouraging.

    I also rely heavily on the GFS computer model. It’s available at a few places online in graphical and text format. The most common link I use is on the webpage here under Weather Reports “NOAA GFS Forecasts”

  9. I wish those cameras had been on Hwy 4 when I was driving a truck to the coast every day!
    Thanks to your links Chris, I also use the NOAA GFS daily. TWN isn’t great, but I’ve found their hourly forecast to be useful when I want to know exactly when precipitation will start when the forecast calls for rain or snow. It seems fairly accurate, and of course I also compare it with satellite, radar and other sources.

  10. Maybe this should be a question for Nick… The last two times I have been to Tofino in the last month, I went past Wik Beach at about the same time – about 4:30pm. Ironically, both times between Wik and Combers, I went through the HARSHEST rain EVER (the last time was mixed with hail and freezing rain to make it extra loud!)It was literally in the same spot! (last time was tuesday night) Is it just a coincidence, or is there somthing with the area there?

  11. Kari: Hard to say… could be something in the ground that causes the same effect as the passing lanes between Cameron Lake and Little Qualicum Falls, know to some as the Sand Hills or Magnetic Hill. That area always seems to have a band of weather conditions all on its own.

    Got 2 bits for this one Chris?

  12. Kari: No idea! I’m inclined to agree with Nick, must be something to do with the local topography or land mass or something. There’s always those special spots that seem to have their very own weather.

    Another spot like that I think is the area just pass the Highway 19 overpass at Highway 1 south of Nanaimo… I’ve come across the craziest weather there and can even see it sometimes from campus at VIU.

    I’ll have another blog post in the morning!

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