ENGLISH LANGUAGE TIPS

Welcome to Raincouver!

This time of year is pretty rainy in Vancouver.

You need to learn the language of RAIN!

Let’s start with simple vocabulary for how hard it is raining.  Let’s go from just a few drops to very heavy rain:

• A few raindrops
• Sprinkling – just a little, not enough to worry about
• A fine mist – very very tiny drops, almost like steam
• Drizzle – steady but very small drops, you don’t really need a hat or umbrella
• Light showers – periodic light rain, just enough to need a hat or umbrella, but it may stop and start many times
• Showers – regular rain but in intervals, stops and starts
• Pouring rain! – you need an umbrella, probably all day, the streets will be full of puddles
• Bucketing!, Raining buckets! - raining so hard you could fill a bucket in a few minutes
• Raining cats and dogs! – completely horrible full hard rain
• A deluge, torrential rain! – Very very hard rain.  Don’t go out, wait!

We can do the same with snow:

• A few snowflakes
• Starting to snow, but is not sticking (the snowflakes melt on contact)
• A light snowfall, a dusting of snow
• Flurries – light snow that stops and starts
• It’s snowing!  After, there this snowfall, there will be a blanket of snow everywhere
• It’s really snowing hard!
• It’s a BLIZZARD!  It’s snowing so hard, it’s a WHITEOUT! Very unsafe to walk or drive
• Snow SQUALL – this is even stronger than a blizzard with very strong wind, impossible to walk in

Rain and snow mixed together =  SLEET

When snow melts, it becomes SLUSH

Of course, when rain freezes, it becomes ICE