Sun goes missing in rainy Vancouver

Vancouver has lost nearly three months of sunshine because of all the rain this winter, says a meteorologist at Environment Canada, who warns there could be more gloomy weather ahead.

David Jones said Vancouver has had 130 fewer hoursof sunny weather since November than normal.

"If you look at that over the course of winter months, we only get from 45 to 50 hours of bright sunshine a month, so we have almost missed at least two or three months of bright sunshine," he said.

The Lower Mainland had rain for 29 more days than average this winter, which added up to more than 230 millimetres of extra liquid sunshine, Jones said.

Rain has been an all too familiar sight on B.C.'s South Coast this month, with wet weather on 19 of the past 21 days.

Vancouver could be on its way to a record for March, Jones said, with 154 mm of precipitation so far this month. The wettest March on record was back in 1997, when 240 mm fell.

Wet weather is forecast through the weekend, Jones said, which means that record could soon be washed away.

"If we do in fact set a total precipitation record for the month of March at 240 mm, that would be kind of a nice bookend to a horrible winter."

The gloomy weather started in November with 351 mm of rain, making it the wettestmonth in 2006, and nearly setting the record as Vancouver's wettest month ever.