It is said that the Inuit have dozens of names for snow. On Vancouver Island for the winter, Betty & I haven’t seen any snow – yet. But it appears that islanders have dozens of names for rain – from drizzle to showers to torrential rain, and everything in between. And it seems that we have experienced all of them since moving to an ocean-view site at Living Forest campground in Nanaimo, B.C.!
I think the latest system is called a “pineapple express” leading to a “weather bomb”, causing an “atmospheric river” in southwestern British Columbia. Towns have been evacuated as water treatment plants have overflowed. Roads – including the Coquihalla and TransCanada highways – have been closed due to mudslides and flooding. Motorists have been stranded, requiring rescue from emergency crews. Evidence of climate change is all around, as every day the extreme weather is recorded as “unprecedented”. It’s not a pretty situation here, but thankfully there has been no reported loss of life to date.
Fortunately, our motorhome has been high and dry inside, and we are warm and cozy as we hear and watch the weather go by. Apparently, this system has brought over 200 mm of rain to Nanaimo in the past couple of weeks. Rain, rain, go away!
Under normal circumstances, we would consider raising our levelers and heading to a location with better weather – like Quartzsite, Arizona or South Padre Island, Texas, with both experiencing sunshine and temperatures in the high 20s to low 30s Celsius. But at least three factors are keeping us grounded (as long as a landslide doesn’t sweep us into the nearby ocean. We had looked forward to an ocean view, but never intended to be that close – lol). 1) We have airline tickets to fly out of Nanaimo to Winnipeg in a few weeks, and changing reservations has proven to be a major hassle these days. 2) When we moved to our current campsite, our living room slide-out refused to fully extend, and we now have a new $1,500. slide-out motor on order, to be installed in a couple of weeks. 3) Finally, health issues are keeping us tethered to the Canadian health care system for the next while, so we’re not leaving the country any time soon…
Betty & I will just have to look on the bright side. The relentless rain should reduce the chances of forest fires, prevalent in the region last summer. And we don’t have to learn all those Inuktitut names for snow!
Cheers!