Homeless in Vancouver: A warm welcome for the return of clouds

The singular brownish-grey haze of woodsmoke that hung over Vancouver for nearly two weeks has been gone for five days now and the atypically naked blue skies that resulted have only lasted four days.

Today (August 18) our usual cloud cover finally returned and not a moment too soon.

Summer is ending and the overnight low is beginning it’s long autumnal slide towards the freezer-in-the-basement that is winter.

You don’t have to be homeless to love clouds but it helps

Not ignoring the inconvenient truth that in the fall and winter months, clouds are sometimes attended by cold rain and even snow—neither of which do any of us favours, homeless or otherwise—we are fast approaching the seven or eight months of the year when cloud cover is (more often than not) a decided help to us homeless people.

Regardless of precipitation, a ceiling of broken or overcast cloud always acts like a big snuggly comforter; helping to hold in the sun’s heat. The result is warmer days and, most importantly, warmer nights, when cloudy skies keep overnight temperatures from falling quite as low (by several degrees) as they otherwise might.

Believe me, if you are sleeping outside on a winter night overcast skies are about as good as having one more warm blanket!