From page3 Levels Highway. Where it’s exactly going to rain (or snow), a: what velocity and for how long are questions forecasters ideally want io answer. The better the technology, the better the prediction. “Topography is so steep and the width of many of the valleys and straits and passes is so narrow they are not adequately resolved by the numeric weather forecast models. As a result, except for some of our high resolution research models, they don’t capture these fine topographical effects.” Consequently, it could be sunny in Horseshoe Bay and rain- ing cats and dogs in Deep Cove. Or vice versa. Stuf's research found the North Shore is at the end of the Olympic Mountain range’s con- vergence zone. Winds off the Pacific flow around the Washington state coastal peaks and rejoin around Point Roberts, south of Tsawwassen. As a result, they gain More power and often ‘wind up socking the North Shore with intease wind and rain. According to Stull, the con- vergence zone was associated with a dozen windstorms and the ensuing power coapes in the winter Be 1998/199' -0Oa : a. WEATHER mesmerizes people. It’s‘among the most-talked about subjects anywhere. Unlike - politics or religion, it rarely caus- “” @§ arguments and can actually _unite people. Weather informa- , ‘tion is so popular in Canada that -. TV’s WeatherNetwork counts 6.5 million viewers a week. : ___,, Four millennia ago, the Babylonians were among the first to “do something Pra the weather by observing the behaviour of _ clouds. Gree her Aristotle: assembled his debatable ~ theories on Sc lnen corologica in 340BC, laying the foun- dation for ote in , the science of weather. Things really /. started hay ¢ late 16th century when Galileo Galilei invented thermometer. For a few more centuries, folklore played a key role because “equipment | was far from sophisticated. “Red sky at night, sailor's delight” was a popular rule of thumb for dwellers of coastal A February 1999 snowfall ‘wreaked havoc on lecal roads. commiunities to anticipate the next day's weather. The next big revolution was in communications. The tele- graph’s invention in 1844 helped free the tlow of weather information between far-flung points on the globe. It was espe- cially handy for University of Toronto meteorology professor George Kingston, the father of Canada's weather service. He used a $5,000 federal grant to begin forecasts in eastern Canada. Funding increased substantially after the summer of 1873 when 1,000 people were killed by a hurricane that slammed Cape Breton Island. Out here on the west coast, the Royal Engincers were cred- ited with pioneering weather measurement from their base in New Westminster. Over in Victoria, the Hudson’s Bay Co. also kept track of conditions. Stations opened at Spence’s Bridge on the Thompson River and in Esquimalt. The latter eventually became the best-equipped station west of Toronto. But not until Nov. 1, 1898, were forecasts published in B.C. Victoria’s Daily Colonist was the first to bring weather to the people. Extreme weather has caused havoc on the North Shore. Windstorms from the wintcr of 1998/1999 come to mind, just as the record snowfalls of the Christmas of 1997. But Mother Nature threw curve- balls at those who were developing the area early in the 20th century. James Cooper Keith, who managed the Vancouver branch of the Bank of British Columbia in 1902. underwrote a loan to Nerth Vancouver to build the east-west thoroughfare named for the Scot. The key links, bridges over the Capilano and Seyniour Rivers, were demolished in 1905 when heavy flows met with high tides at their mouths in a common phenomenon known as freshet. A deluge of rain in mid-November 1919 caused a landslide in Lynn Canyon Park and actually changed the course of Lynn Creck. According to Waiter MacKay Draycott’s Early Days in Lynn Valley: “A great mass of land, acres in extent and including the eastern tion of Langworthy Road, slipped down into the weil o! the park grounds with a roar. In its surge downward went massive trees, ton-weight boulders, tree stumps of immense girth.” No lives were lost, but a cat had to be rescued from a tree. The greatest weather story of the 20th century in B.C. was Oct. 12, 1962, when all of Vancouver was hit bard by Typhoon Freda. Seven peaple were killed as winds gusted up to 101 kn/h. Twenty per cent of Stanley Park’s trees were mowed - down by the winds and people lost power in their houses from Horseshoe Bay to Hope. Weather a part of N. Shore school curriculum _ analyzed. statistics from 1951 to 1980 and compared them with data from the 1990s and found a troubling tend. The Lower Mainland during the ~ last: decade was warmer and wetter than the previous 30 du “years. On. average, the annual yr : szamiples recently < temperature has risen by 0.75 next generation. of forecasters. ‘our North: Shore schools C while rain has increased by 130 mm. Tatar blames the urban heat island effect in which a dense downtown core’s con- centration of heat-causing buildings. and exhaust-belch- ing auto traffic causes ozone pollution, the leading culprit warming phenomenon. . Tatar said further research will ke done in remote north- ern B.C. to determine if it has seen a similar change in cli- mate. — Bob Mackin in the controversial global - - | raYLORMOTIVE SERVICE LTD. laeer : Sunday, April 2, 2000 - North Shore News - 13 = Topography complicates forecasts NEWS file photo A May 1998 rainstorm flooded a Marine Drive inter- section. Coming in Sunday Focus. NEXT week in Sunday Focus reporter Layne Christensen goes undercover to investigate a new chapter in book retailing on the North Shore. To suggest a feature story that deserves to be “in Focus write to Martin Millerchip, North Shore News, 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, V7M 2H4, fax 985-2104 or e vmail . ” AYLORMOTIV COLLISION SPECIALISTS for Foreign & Romestic NORTH SHCRE’S. HIGHEST VOLUME ALL MAKE - e on ° aS LeB.C. cd * ORS : ee ee g Bh The Home of the Pilati —~ Guarantee > Also Mechanical Division. Alternative transportation arranged. | eres & Domes, TALS TALKING -« ESTIMATES x. _ CONSULTATION 174 Pemberton Avo., Horth Von ° 908-7455 Ti Ea EA rRaAyw ae Fresonte Caryl Churchill's Parks and Recreation Department see oe . +++ Building Community Proceeding with Recreation Facility Master Plan recommendations, the District of West Vancouver is reviewing a number of . recreation facilities and sites. 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