| “I keep the thermostat down during the cold season. That’s partly because I’m tight with a buck.”
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Q & A
You once separated a shoulder while testing a toboggan run while doing the weather following a rare, big snowfall in Vancouver.
Have you been back on a sled since?
A couple of times, very, very carefully… I’m very cautious now.
Growing up in Kamloops, you had the luxury of dry, hot summers and not-too-cold winters with minimal snowfall. How long did
it take you to adjust to the rain of Vancouver?
It took a couple of seasons. I visited Vancouver a lot as a kid so I knew what I was in for but it was a bit of a shock coming
down for university in the 80s. Kamloops was so dry and had extremely warm summers and snowy winters. I found the weather
up there more interesting to be honest, because the change in seasons was more pronounced. But it took a couple of years to
adjust down here.
What’s the explanation for Vancouver’s September weather, which seems to be the only consistently fair weather month?
Usually Septembers are pretty good. This year was so-so. It wasn’t that great a month. Summer tends to start late here in
B.C. and often we get it extending late into September and early October. Junes are notorious for being crummy around here.
Some good stretches, but lousy. Some people think, ‘It’s June, it’s summer.’ But it never really kicks in till the second
week of July and it tends to last till September consistently. There’s no real reason for that that I can think of.
Some people have used the wild weather of the past few years as “evidence” of global warming and its dangers. Do you think
the weather-global warming link is exaggerated?
I think there’s a slight exaggeration. I’m not saying I don’t believe there is climate change, but I also believe there have
been extremes in weather many years in the past century. I’m one who doesn’t jump on the bandwagon immediately when there
is a severe weather event, and I don’t immediately attribute it to climate change or global warming. So I would say there’s
a slight exaggeration given the additional media coverage of every weather event and the increased number of weather stations
measuring those weather events.
What’s your favourite thing about Vancouver?
You’ve got the ocean, the mountains, all the city lights of Vancouver. Everything is here. The wonderful summers around…we
usually get weeks and weeks of terrific, not-too-hot, nice and sunny summer weather here in Vancouver so it’s not too hot
and not too cold. I guess you could say it does have some wonderful summer weather here. As a kid growing up in Kamloops,
I loved snow events. Now except for reporting on the weather events I definitely do not look forward to a lot of snow to drive
in. I can’t stand it. That’s another good thing. Very few occurrences of wintry weather here.
Guilty Pleasure
Few of us are flawless conservationists. Tell us about your dark side.
You’ve got to be honest here, I guess hey? I drive a long way to work every day. I live in the suburbs in White Rock, about
70 km total or 35 km each way — which isn’t a lot, but a fairly long commute every day of the week. And I’m also a bit bad
about leaving the lights on in the house, which I’m going to really work on, being on the B.C. Hydro Power Smart team.
Energy Saver
What have you done to conserve energy?
The upside is I drive a hybrid. I drive a Honda Accord hybrid. And what else do I do? I keep the thermostat down during the
cold season. That’s partly because I’m tight with a buck [laughs]. I try to keep the thermostat at a reasonable level. How’s
that?
