Fog above the ocean in Vancouver

Last night there was heavy fog in Vancouver, and for the first time since we moved here over 6 months ago I heard fog horns from ships passing by. When I woke up this morning the world was greyish white because of the fog. Although it had lifted a bit since the night before, we could hardly see anything beyond a few hundred meters.

We had planned to do a short hike, but because of the fog I wasn’t sure if we should not just stay at home. It was only about 16 degrees outside, a bit different from the warm summer weather over the past couple of days. But then I checked a webcam at Grouse Mountain and saw that it was sunny and 26 degrees at 1100 meters! It’s a weather pattern called inversion, which basically means that the temperature at lower altitudes is lower than at higher altitudes (normally it’s colder the higher you go).

This picture was taken less than an hour after the one above, but 1100 meters higher. No fog but sunshine!

So we took one of the cars and drove up to Cypress Mountain. Twenty minutes later we were out of the clouds and in the sunshine at the base of the Olympic ski station. We hiked a short trail around a mountain lake with the kids, they loved running around in the sun instead of looking at the clouds over the sea at home. And then we drove down again through the clouds, where it was raining when we arrived at the bottom of the mountain.

I love Vancouver, even if the weather is foggy you just drive up one of the mountains (or up to Whistler, 1 hour away from our home) and you’re back in the sun again!