British Columbia Weather

The weather in the Grand Forks area has been for the most part pleasant.  Last week started out really nice (nice is defined by lows no higher than 50 and highs in the 70's)

On my birthday, however, the pleasant morning temps soon became a toasty 100 degrees.  At least it was not humid at all, so it was very tolerable to those of us not working on roofs, which several of our volunteers were.  Also the house where I was working was in Westbridge, which is close in elevation to Grand Forks, but surrounded by steep, forested mountains, which really helps to temper the afternoon highs.

After a couple days of that, it cooled slightly, but not close to where I would like it.  This area is similar to central Oregon ( and I am sure Washington- but I haven't been through there) in that it is high desert.  The winds from the Pacific rise over the coastal mountains and the Cascades, and drop most of their moisture.  The descending air then warms as it sweeps over the rain-shadow desert.


Overall, I have found the weather pleasant, and especially suitable for Astronomy.  I cannot ever remember having so many consecutive nights of being able to see the planets.  For those who stargaze, the seeing has been pretty good, although a ridge just to the south has a lot of heat stored up from the afternoon and causes a fair amount of turbulence.  It usually dissipates  somewhat after several hours.

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