Homeless in Vancouver: Ana the pineapple express runs out of steam

Tropical Storm Ana—what was left of it—was forecast to arrive sometime yesterday and bring with it heavy rain and high winds. Vancouver waited and Vancouver prepared but nothing happened.

The storm that finally straggled into town at about 9 a.m. this morning was definitely travel-weary and winded.

There were the usual excuses for being late—ran into another weather system on the way, got to exchanging air masses—that sort of thing.

Whatever the reasons, in four days and over 4,000 kilometres it went from being a hurricane to a “were-icane”.

And less than two hours after it had arrived, it had already blown through town and was gone. Hardly worth the trip if you ask me.

You want hard rain? I’ll show you hard rain!

Tropical Storm Ana may have been a lightweight, but evidently Vancouver’s autumn rain has already been heavy enough to peel paint.

Two weeks ago, I noticed superficial damage along the top edge of one of the corrugated plastic signs adorning the gas station at the corner of Hemlock Street and West Broadway Avenue.

This morning that sign actually looked like it had been sandblasted clean down to the white plastic.

That’s Vancouver rain in October. And we’re just getting started!

Now you know why Vancouver’s streets are as clean as they are and why Vancouverites seem to have such wrinkle-free complexions!