Vancouver weather in March

Regulars describe the first two weeks of this month as essentially a cooler continuation of late August, with the chance of rain and cooler temperatures both increasing steadily as the month progresses - a genuine within-month gradient rather than one flat verdict. Our row backs the mild, still-summery average, 19C over 11.7C nights, with 77.1mm of rain across 8.4 days. Regulars call this one of the driest months of the year overall, with the trade for coming later in the month being noticeably thinner crowds and shorter waits at popular activities. The sea sits at 16.8C. The record: humidity 80 percent, 9.1 hours of sun, a 9.9 kph wind and AQI 46.

Regulars describe this month as genuinely variable rather than settled either way - some stretches bring drizzly, grey days, others string together enough sunshine that people sunbathe on the beach - with the reassurance that a real multi-day soak is unusual, more like three wet days than ten in a row. Our row backs the mild, damp-leaning read, 17.5C over 9.7C nights, with 51.1mm of rain across 7.6 days. Regulars are specific that the back half of the month, sliding into June, tends to bring less rain and warmer afternoons than the front half. The standard packing advice is layering plus an umbrella - jeans and t-shirts for a sunny stretch, a light jacket for the cooler or wetter one. The sea sits at a cool 15.3C. The record: humidity 74 percent, 11.2 hours of sun and AQI 50.

June gloom is the local name and regulars will tell you the grey holds until about mid-July - but they also describe what it actually is: drizzle rather than rain, rarely all day and rarely everywhere, with some Junes spent in shorts with the windows open. Our row sides with the optimists on two counts. Rain is 47.7mm across 6.5 days, and there are 12.1 hours of sun inside 16.2 of daylight, which is not a grey month by any measure. What it is not is warm: 20C days and 12.2C nights, with a 16.5C sea. The other thing June has is quiet, because Canadian schools do not break until its last week. The record: humidity 73 percent and AQI 48.

August in Vancouver is warm, sunny and dry - the city does not get the heat and humidity that eastern North American cities do, and July through September carries very little rain, our row putting August at 3.8 precipitation days. The forum's reservation is smoke. Late July and August fall inside wildfire season, and regulars have gone as far as advising against those weeks in bad years, with reports of haze thick enough to set off asthma; September and October usually bring the wind that clears it. The other August cost is company, because peak cruise season runs June to September. The record: 23.2C days that feel like 24C, 14.6C nights, 11.8 hours of sun and a 19.1C sea.